My Savior
by AlphaDemon
Summary: I'm abused at home, bullied at school. I'm beaten, bruised, broken. Alone. Scared of people. I want help, but I'm afraid something worse will happen. To find "the one", I sing of my pain at a café where I work. No one has noticed yet. Then, she saves me. She keeps reappearing in my life. Can I trust her? Can I learn to trust people again?(Weak/nerdy Natsu). AU. NaLu. Darker fan fic
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This idea has been nagging at the back of my head for a while now, so I decided to go ahead and start writing it. If you don't like dark, sad, and angst-y, then I don't recommend this fan fic to you.**

**The whole story will be Natsu's POV, with occasional third person POV.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Igneel Dragneel was my dad. He was the best dad anyone could ever ask for. He loved me, cared for me, spent any and all spare time he had with me. I loved him so much. I always thought it would be me and him forever.

I wish I could say the same for my mom, but I never knew her. Dad always said she was very beautiful, very smart, and very kind. He said that she loved me. If I had gotten the chance to know her, I bet I would've loved her as much as I loved my dad.

But fate is cruel. It took my mom away before I even knew her. Then it took my dad away when I was nine. He didn't leave. Didn't drop everything and abandon me. Honestly, I wish he had left instead of what happened. The Accident, as I call it. Some drunken ass driver hit my dad with his shitty car. Dad died instantly. The driver? Well, he was sent to prison for ten years on account of drunk driving and hit-and-run. It should've been longer. He deserved to freaking _rot_ in a cell full of rat shit. But, no, he gets to go free in a measly ten years. Imagine it was your dad that got hit. Do you agree with me now?

After The Accident, I was sent to an orphanage. There I cried for days, no… _weeks_. My tenth birthday happened while I was still stuck in that God forsaken hellhole. You know how I spent it? Weeping. Sobbing. Grieving. Alone. I drew my birthday cake in the dirt outside the run-down building I called home.

Life took a turn for the better a couple months after my birthday. Wrong. I was adopted. I know what you're thinking: _Yay! He has a family again! He's gonna be happy now! _Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Sure, I have a family again, if you can even call it that. One man. That was it. No mom, no siblings. Just some old guy with a permanent scowl. He's really muscular, despite his advanced age. He's very tan, too. His long, light-colored hair is usually tied in braid that reaches below his middle back. Shaggy sideburns connect his hair to his untamed, light-colored, spiky beard and mustache. Scars cover his face. His sunken eyes, topped by light and bushy eyebrows, look almost white, as if he has no pupils. The black underlining his lower eyelids give him an otherworldly, and frankly scary, look. Jiemma Orlando is his name.

He took me to my new home: a small, wooden two-story house. He said things like "I'll look after you" and "Nothing bad will happen to you again". Lying bastard. A week after he took me in, his real child came home. Minerva Orlando, a sly she-devil in the body of a curvaceous, raven haired girl. Her slanted dark eyes have a malicious look in them. The amount of eye makeup she wears only adds to the maliciousness. She wears too much lip gloss, in my opinion, but most would say her lips look desirable.

Anyway, when she came home, I was thrown in the attic without a second thought so that she could have one of the two rooms the house provided. My new digs was like any ol' attic you can think of: dusty, full of cobwebs, low ceiling, no furniture, and one small window just big enough to squeeze through for emergencies. Yep, this is my new home sweet home.

For the first month, life wasn't too bad. I enrolled in school, made some friends, got good grades (all A's baby!). But then my life took a turn for the worse. Again.

I started to get bullied. Not by one kid or one group, but two _different_ groups, each containing _four people_. All of the kids are buff, except the one girl in the group known as the Raijinshuu, which means Thunder God Tribe. The other group calls themselves Sabertooth. Maybe they mean like the sabertooth tiger. Who knows? Either way, I'm bullied everyday by one, or both, of these groups.

Then fate decided to ruin my life even more.

The beatings started. At first just a couple lashes from Jiemma's belt. Then it escalated into more lashings, plus actual fist-to-face, or just about anywhere on my body, contact.

This continued for years, and is still ongoing.

After a year of being abused at home and bullied at school, I grew a fear of people. I secluded myself away from everybody at school. I lost all my friends. No one knows who I am anymore, except for the bullies. I became that random kid in the back of the class with his nose in a book. It's hard. It's lonely. I cry myself to sleep most nights. I want to change, but I'm afraid, terrified. And, really, I don't know what "love" is, anymore.

* * *

I'm eighteen now. Today begins my first day of senior year in high school. Hooray.

It's 3:30 a.m. Time to get up. No, school does not start in an hour. It starts at 8:00 a.m. So why, you ask, am I getting up four and half hours early? The answer is simple: Jiemma gets up at 5:00 a.m. so, by getting up at 3:30, I'm out of the house by 4:30, thirty minutes before Jiemma's even up, thus avoiding a beating.

I rise from my bed; a piece of cardboard I found when I was thirteen. It's not much, but it's certainly better than the old creaky floor. My glasses lie on the floor. I put them on. They're big and thick-rimmed, the definition of dorky.

I throw on a pair of dirty, faded jeans and a black hooded coat over a dull red T-shirt, all of which I bought with my own hard earned money. Then I use my fingers, since I have no comb or brush, to plow through the little tangles in my hair and pat it down. You heard right: down. No spikes. No Mohawk. No styling. Just simply down. It helps me hide… most of the time.

The stairs creak as I exit the attic. It's a good thing Jiemma sleeps like log. Minerva just doesn't care anymore, so she sleeps with ear plugs. The steps leading downstairs are a little better than the attic ones, but they still give the occasional groan. Once downstairs, I head to the kitchen.

I don't dare turn on the TV. Never have, never will. Jiemma will throw a fit if he finds out I even thought about touching the flat screen.

My breakfast consists of a piece of bread. Hard, stale, and somewhat moldy, it tastes foul. Nevertheless, I stuff it down my throat and rinse it out with tap water straight from the sink. I use no dishes; I'm not allowed to.

I pack my school bag full of books I got from the library, my necessary binders, notebooks and other stuff. Shoving five dollars – again, my own hard earned money – into my pocket, I exit the house.

It's only 4:25-ish, so it's still dark outside. I don't mind, though, because over all the years of having to do this, I've acquired pretty good night vision. The air is cool and fresh. It smells of peace, calm, and freedom. I love it. This is the only time when I'm not open to being hurt physically, verbally, or mentally.

I leisurely stroll around. Not many shops are open at this early hour. The few that are, are basically empty. Sometimes I go in one, just to look around, but today I decide not to. Today, I go to the park.

It's deserted when I get there. I like it that way. It's peaceful. It's quiet, providing a place for me to sleep. I sit down on a bench, flinging my bag down next to me. My eyelids already feel heavy with sleep. Soon, I'm out like a light.

* * *

I wake to the suns bright rays. Groggily, I check the time on a giant clock that's positioned in the park. It's 7:43. I have seventeen minutes to get to school. That's more than enough time.

When I get to the main building of Fairy Tail high, there's still ten minutes left before school starts. I enter the building, keeping my head low and sticking to the shadows. Avoid people, keep my head low, stick to the shadows, and don't make eye contact with anyone. That's how I survive. It keeps me hidden-

"Oh Natsu!"

-most of the time…

Just keep walking. Don't turn around. Ignore them and maybe they'll go away.

"Oi, bitch! I'm talkin' to you." A hand lands on my shoulder, roughly turning me to face my assailant. It's Laxus, leader of the Raijinshuu. His posse stands around me so I'm in the middle of them. I'm trapped. Shit.

Laxus smirks, making the lightning shaped scar across his right eye and down his cheek distort. He holds out a big hand, tough from football. "Give me your lunch money."

Only the first day and I'm already losing my lunch money. Perfect. I won't give in without a fight, though.

I shake my head no.

"Give it now, geek, and maybe we'll go easy on you," he sneers. That's when I notice the Raijinshuu are closer. I won't stand a chance in a fight.

Defeated, I dig into my pocket and pull out my five dollars. There's more of my hard earned money gone, stolen.

Laxus smirks again. The Raijinshuu back off a little.

I look down. I think it's over.

…

Apparently it's not.

One of Laxus' hands grabs my hair, yanking my head up to look at him in the eyes. He's a head taller than I am, though, so it really hurts.

"I was gonna be lenient since it's the first day of school, but since you defied me, I changed my mind. You can enjoy an empty stomach for lunch." He tugs my hair again, causing my head up at an angle it shouldn't be at. "But next time you talk back, the punishment will be much worse, Pinky."

I try to speak, but the abnormal angle makes only weird sounds come out.

"What was that," Laxus growls.

I look him in the eyes now, giving him as best a glare as I can muster.

"I-it's salmon, not p-pink," I spit. My saliva lands on his nose since he was a mere inch away from my face.

Laxus raises his hand in a fist ready to punch.

The bell rings, signaling the start of school. As they say, saved by the bell.

He pushes me against the lockers, using his muscular arm to hold me in place. "You'll regret doing that, punk," he snarls. Then he grabs me by the shirt and throws me to ground. I land hard. And on a spot on my back that's healing from Jiemma's latest whipping. It sends a white hot pain up back. I hold back a scream.

The bastard signals for his posse to do their thing before he heads to his class. Bixlow, a creepy guy with an unusually long tongue, pours the contents of my bag on the floor. Freed, a green haired guy shoves me in a locker. Evergreen, the female of the group, kicks my stuff everywhere. I see this through the gaps in the locker.

They leave, each banging a fist once on the locker I'm stuck in.

My onyx eyes gaze through the gaps, making sure no one is out there. When I see the coast is clear, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I open the locker and step out. My back is throbbing where I landed on the lash mark. I have double vision from banging my head against the locker when Freed shoved me in. My head aches, too.

I pick up my things. I might as well skip first period since I'm already late.

Getting to my locker is challenging. The double vision kept causing me to run into things. By the time I find my locker, the double vision is almost gone. I unload my things, keeping what I need for the rest of the day. It's better to have everything to avoid time in the hall when I'm an easy target.

I haven't even made it through first period yet and I've already been bullied.

Deciding to skip first period, I head to the roof. There, I read until the bell rings, signaling the end of first and a four minute transition to second. I pack up and exit the rooftop.

Let's see what the rest of the day holds in store for me.

* * *

**How was it?**

**Jiemma was the guild master of Sabertooth, if anyone's wondering. And yes, Minerva is his actual daughter in the manga and anime.**

**There will be some songs later, that go along with Natsu's life and the pain, loneliness, and sacredness he feels. If anyone has suggestions, please feel free to PM or review.**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Huge thanks to the 12 people that followed and the 9 people that favorited this story! It means so much to me! Also, tremendous thanks to **CelestialTroll **for reviewing!**

**To **CelestialTroll**\- Thanks so much the compliments! Your review is what made me want to update this story faster than I usually do.**

**Here's chapter 2!**

* * *

Nothing interesting happens in second period.

Like always, I choose a seat in the back of the room, away from everyone else. No one bothers me as I read my book. I don't sleep like most people; it's too risky. However, I do put my head down and close my eyes, tuning out the teacher.

Soon enough, the bell rings. I wait until I'm the only one left in the room before I exit.

The halls are crowded. I can barely move. Squirming bodies bump into each other, causing a domino effect. Popular people stand in the middle like they own the place. Which, I guess in a way, they do. And of course, there are the couples making out on the sides, acting as obstacles for people like me that travel close to the walls.

I duck my head, masking my face with my bangs. My eyes dart around, looking for potential threats. I hold my things tightly to my chest; a nervous habit. I hate traveling in the hallways. So many dangers lurking everywhere. So many people pushing and shoving. It's crowded, hot, and smelly. Most of all, it's claustrophobic. There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. I'm an easy target.

I squint through the glare my glasses are causing. I see a group of four people. I can't see their faces, but their hair color says all I need to know. Light blond, pitch black, mustard yellow, and mint green.

Shit.

It's the popular group known as Sabertooth. They're a group that bullies me.

Orga Nanagear: football player, the muscle of the group. Rufus Lore: the football team's manager, the brains. Rogue Cheney: soccer player, very quiet, like a shadow. Sting Eucliffe: football player, loves publicity, leader of Sabertooth.

While the Raijinshuu bully me secretly, when there's barely anyone around, Sabertooth loves to bully out in the open. They make it no secret. They're known for their power and merciless ways. Yet, everyone still admires them because of where they stand on sports teams.

I move a little faster. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to avoid anything with them.

…

Turns out, luck is on my side, for once. I safely make it to class, and on time.

I don't move my head as I look around the room. Near the back, I spot a group of popular girls. I don't know their names, but I do recognize them.

One has long, scarlet hair, deep brown eyes, and strong arms. Another has short white hair and baby blue eyes. The shortest one has short blue hair pulled back by an orange headband and light brown eyes. A dark brown haired girl takes a swig from a bottle, her brown eyes lighting up in pleasure from whatever she's drinking. Then there's one that seems quieter than the rest, with wavy ocean blue hair and dark blue eyes.

They sit in the back row, taking up five of the eight seats. I sit near the window. There are two seats between me and the short blue haired girl. I don't like being so close to others, but this will have to do, seeing as all the other seats are taken.

Just before the bell rings, a blond walks in the room. She looks around. She's obviously new to this school, with how nervous she looks. Seeing no other seats, she heads this way. The teacher's not here yet, so the class is still talking. I decide to listen in on the girls.

"Can I sit here?" The blond asks, pointing next to the smallest girl.

Please say no, please say no.

"Sure."

Crap. Now there's only one seat between me and the popular girls.

I don't like this. I don't like this at all.

Shifting my head on my arms, I gaze out the window. It's a pretty a day: lots of sunshine, no clouds, perfect temperature. The warmth from the sun lulls me to drowsiness.

I look away. I can't fall asleep in school. It'll only make me an easier target.

Listening in on the girls again, I realize I've missed their names. Oh well, not like cared anyway.

They're talking about last summer. It's something I wish I could do with friends, but a) I don't have any friends, and b) my summer consists of work, beatings, chores, beatings, being locked in my room, and more beatings. Not very exciting, and not very fun. At all.

I'm ready to tune them out again when the scarlet haired girl asks the blond if she would like to join them in the cafeteria at lunch. The blond accepts.

Jeez, she's new here and is already in with the popular crowd, while I've been here since freshmen year and am still bullied. Life hates me.

Then something even worse happens.

The blond asks, "Who's the pink haired guy next to me?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's new," replies the brown haired girl.

I chance a look, only to see the blond's chocolate eyes fixed on me. I hold her gaze a second longer than I should and mentally scold myself. I avert my gaze.

"He looks lonely," the blond whispers to the bluenette beside her.

She contemplates this. "Maybe you should talk to him," she suggests.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

"Okay," the blond agrees.

Where the hell is the teacher?!

She turns to me.

My breaths come quicker. My pulse races. I'm fidgety.

"Hi."

I give her a nod in acknowledgement.

"I'm Lucy," she starts. "What's your name?"

I panic.

"Uh, um…"

She chuckles. "Is your name uh or um?" she jokes.

I feel my cheeks grow warm in embarrassment. I just want this to end.

"N-natsu," I stutter in a small voice.

Lucy smiles. "Natsu… I like that name. It means 'summer', right?"

All I can manage is a shake of my head yes.

She opens her mouth to say more, but the teacher walks in, loudly making his presence known. The class slowly quiets down.

Lucy and I talk no more during the period. We don't have time to.

The bell rings. Again, I wait for the class to be empty before leaving. The group of popular girls leaves just before I do. It's weird. You'd think they'd be the first ones to leave.

It's lunch time. I head to the cafeteria, sticking to the shadows, of course.

When I get there, I freeze. It's crowded, even more so than last year. There's so many people that the less popular kids are sitting on the floor. Some eat in the hallway outside the cafeteria. Others take their lunches elsewhere, probably outside.

I reach into my pocket for my five dollars. Of course, I forgot that I don't have it anymore, thanks to a blond headed bastard. Damn him.

Sighing, I turn around, only to bump into a buff chest.

I look up at Orga. He's as tall as Laxus, and just as muscular. Rufus stands next to him, over a head a shorter than Orga, but an inch or two taller than me. They move, creating a walkway for their leader. He's about my height, but his spiked hair makes him look taller. Rogue is right behind Sting, his right eye covered by his dark, shaggy hair.

Sting grabs a handful of my shirt, pulling me closer to the triumphant smirk on his face. I know what he wants before he even says anything. He wants my money.

"Give me your-"

"I don't have any," I interrupt.

He looks taken aback by my bluntness. "What," he demands.

"Laxus took my money before first period," I state. "You're too late."

Sting growls, "Damn him." He shoves me to Orga, who pulls my right arm behind my back and yanks it up. I grimace in pain, but don't let them have the pleasure of hearing me scream.

Rufus looks smug. Rogue's glaring at me. I can feel Orga smirking. Sting's plotting something; I see it in his royal blue eyes. They're enjoying this.

Sting moves forward, giving me a malicious look. He grins wickedly.

"Next time Laxus gets to you first," he starts, "you need to defend your money for me."

I scoff. "W-why would I do t-that?" It doesn't matter to me which one gets my money. Either way it's a loss for me.

"Because, if you don't, something terrible will happen to you," Sting threatens. He points to the scar above his eyebrow. I gave him that scar the first day he started bullying me; he was alone then. I didn't mean to; it was self defense. We both had broken glass from a shattered vase in our hands. Sting went for my throat. I defended by blindly slicing, and ended up hitting him above his eyebrow. It needed stitches. Right now, Sting is saying I'll get worse than that. Honestly, I'm not afraid. I get worse from Jiemma at home.

I glare, which is a mistake. Orga yanks my arm up even more. This time, I can't stifle the sound I make from the pain.

They laugh. Yes, _laugh_. If bullying some defenseless kid brings them joy, they really need a new hobby. It would be better for all of us.

Orga throws me to the ground. Sabertooth leaves. Rufus steps on my hand before leaving, making me yelp.

I'm not surprised that no one came to help me, but I am surprised to find that no one even noticed. Everyone is in their own little groups, talking without a care in the world. No one bothered to look at their surroundings. I wish I am as carefree as them.

Slowly, I stand. My hand aches, my pride is even more dented, and I'm hungry. I've been bullied twice already. It's only the first freaking day. I need coffee. Sadly, I have no money to get it.

God damn it all. Send those bastards to burn in Hell. Rip their spines out and shove it down their throat. I don't care what happens to them; I just want revenge for all the things they've done over eight years.

I sigh. Might as well go to the library. I have nowhere else to go.

The library is quiet, basically deserted. This is the most wonderful thing to happen to me all day.

I check the clock. I have thirty minutes until fourth period, a good amount of time.

My fingers roam aimlessly over the spines of some fantasy books. Fantasy is my favorite genre, mainly because of the friendship element in them. All the good guys are great friends. It gives me a taste of what I will probably never have. It makes me happy to know bonds like that exist, but sad because I will most likely never experience that bond.

I find a book with an interesting title. Pulling it off the shelf, I read the back. The storyline isn't as interesting as the title makes it seem, so I put it back. This continues for some time.

The bell rings. How long have I been here? It feels like it's only been ten minutes, when in reality it's been thirty. That's another thing I love about libraries. They help you pass the time quickly.

I grab my things and shuffle my way into the crowded halls.

Fourth period is uneventful. I prefer things that way. It means I didn't get bullied.

Fifth period is similar to fourth. The only difference being a group of popular guys. I don't know who they are. They seem athletic, yet they mind their own business. Hopefully, they won't join in on bullying people.

Sixth period goes by slowly. I watch the clock hands tick at an excruciatingly sluggish speed. I really want the day to end. Everyone else looks like they do, too.

When the bell finally rings, everyone rockets out of the classroom. Like always, I'm the last one out. The journey to my locker is surprisingly a safe one. Thank goodness for football. I think practices start today, which occupies most of my bullies.

I dump my things into my school bag and sling it over my shoulder. I survived day one, but I know things will only get worse as the year progresses. Sighing, I head to the café where I work.

It's time to vent out all my pain.

* * *

**How was it?**

**Next chapter has some songs in it. Please read the lyrics because they play a roll in the story.**

**I'll tell you the name and singer of the songs in the first author note next chapter, it you're wanting to know.**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed! It made me want to update quickly.**

**If you reviewed, and even if you didn't, please read the author's note at the end of this chapter, there's review responses.**

**The first song is **'Let it Hurt' **by **Rascal Flatts. **The second song is **'Shattered'** by **Trading Yesterday.

**Here's chapter three!**

* * *

Why am I alive? Why do I exist in this world? I mean, the first nine years of my life were the best anyone could ask for, but now my life is a living Hell. Am I alive just to satisfy peoples' need of violence? Do I exist just to be hurt further? What's the point of living if I'm not happy? Is it to make others happy, or feel good about themselves? The better question is: why am I still alive? I have nothing to live for, so why do I keep living, enduring the pain?

I reach the building called 8-Island Café. My thoughts will have to wait until later.

I walk inside the small yet cozy building. It's half full, maybe a little more. No one pays attention to me. I don't mind, they'll notice me soon enough.

I walk through the doors that lead to the kitchen. Looking around, I don't see who I'm looking for.

"Ah, Natsu-san, it's good to see you," a voice says behind me.

Turning around, I come face-to-face with Yajima-sama, the owner of 8-Island Café. He's a short, old man. He has thick light-brown eyebrows and a small toothbrush mustache that reaches his lower lip. Right now, he's standing on a stool to be able to be eye level with me.

"It's good to see you, too, Yajima-sama," I reply, giving a small bow.

He waves his hand in a dismissive manner. "You don't have to add the 'sama' to my name."

"O-okay," I stutter.

"So, Natsu-san, are you ready to perform?" Yajima asks me.

"Well, actually," I say, "I need someone to play the piano…"

"I have just the person."

We walk into Yajima's office. It's small, but spacey. In the chair facing Yajima's desk is a girl about my age. She has short purple hair that reaches just below her neck and green eyes. She's wearing a light green dress.

"Natsu-san, this is Kinana-chan. Kinana-chan, this is Natsu-san," Yajima introduces us. Kinana stands, moves closer, and holds out her hand. I shake it.

"It's nice to meet you, Natsu-san," she says.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Kinana-chan," I reply.

Yajima beckons us out of the office. "Kinana-chan here plays the piano extremely well," he explains. "She doesn't even need to practice to be able to play something right." Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kinana blushing.

I look to her. "You sound very talented," I compliment.

She smiles. "Thanks. What about you? Do you play piano?"

"No, I sing."

"That's right," Yajima agrees. "It just so happens that Natsu-san needs someone to play the piano." He looks at Kinana. "Do you mind playing his music? I'm afraid it's the only way I can get you in for performing today."

"I don't mind."

Yajima nods. "You're on in five minutes, then."

He leaves, leaving Kinana and I in a somewhat awkward silence.

"Can I take a look at the music?" she asks.

I nod, handing her the music sheets from my school bag.

My stomach growls.

"I'm gonna go get something to eat," I say. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Mmm'kay."

I exit the kitchen. Walking up to the counter, I look at the menu. What do I want today?

"Hi Natsu," Virgo, the lady behind the counter, greets. "What can I get you?"

"Hey, Virgo. I'll take a mocha, and a chocolate chip scone, please."

"Coming right up."

She returns a few seconds later with my order. I gladly accept it.

"Just take it out of my pay," I tell her.

"Okay. Bye Natsu."

I turn around. Spotting an open table, I sit at it. The clock on the wall reads 3:57. I have three minutes before I need to perform. I begin wolfing down my scone.

I'm drinking my mocha when the bell above the door rings, signaling new customers. Curious, I glance to see who it is.

Holy shit.

It's the group of popular girls from third period _and _the group of popular guys from fifth period.

No _freaking_ way. Why are they here?! All the other popular people say this place is 'rundown' and 'disgusting'. That's why I chose this place to work at. _So why are they here?!_

_Calm down, Natsu, _I tell myself. _They haven't shown any signs of being a threat._

I down the rest of my mocha. Keeping my head low, I throw my trash away and head to the kitchen.

Kinana is waiting for me. "Ready?" she asks. I nod, grabbing the Café's acoustic guitar that they keep for performers to use. I really want my own, but a) Jiemma will never let me, and b) I don't have the money.

We exit the kitchen and walk onto the two-foot-tall stage. A piano is always there, waiting to be played. Kinana sits down at the bench, adjusting the music sheets on the stand.

I grab the microphone and stool and set them up in the middle of the stage. As I do so, I hear the popular people whispering. They really suck at being quiet, but then again, they are at the closet table to the stage and I have admittedly good hearing.

They're saying things like, "Who is that?", "He sat a seat away from me in third period.", "I don't know his name…", and "Maybe I passed him in the hallway."

I avoid eye contact with them. Actually, I avoid eye contact with everyone in the café. It'll only make me more nervous.

I've been doing this for four years now, and I still don't feel comfortable when doing it. Maybe it's because I don't like being the center of attention, or I feel self-conscious when I sing. Either way, I'm always nervous and fidgety.

As I look out to the 'audience', a few of the regular customers shout words of encouragement. I really appreciate it. After all, they seem to like my music.

I sit on the stool, adjusting the guitar in my lap. I'm so nervous that my glasses slide down my nose a little. I push them up. They really need to be adjusted, but you already know why I haven't gotten them fixed.

Turning on the microphone, I clear my throat. Most of the café, including the group of popular people, is looking at me now, which doesn't help my nerves calm down.

"So, uh, hi everyone," I say. "Today Kinana-chan and I are going to be performing two songs. This first one is called 'Let it Hurt'. I wrote it because no matter what pain you're suffering, hurting is always part of recovery."

I nod my head to Kinana. She looks at the sheet music and starts playing the intro. I wait a little before singing at moderate speed.

_"7:42 in the morning,  
8 seconds before it all sinks in  
Put your best face on for the world  
Fake another smile and just pretend  
But you're just puttin' off the pain  
Nothing's ever really gonna change"_

I come in with the guitar. It picks up the pace of the song.

_"So let it hurt, let it bleed  
Let it take you right down to your knees  
Let it burn to the worst degree  
May not be what you want, but it's what you need  
Sometimes the only way around it,  
is to let love do its work  
And let it hurt  
Yeah, let it hurt"_

My strumming slows down.

_"3:28 in the morning,  
countin' up the spaces between the rain  
You're gettin' used to the rocks at the bottom  
Your heart goes numb, but the lonely stays the same  
And that's the price you're bound to pay  
And there's really nothing anyone can say  
Oh, there's only just one way"_

I speed up again.

_"So let it hurt, let it bleed  
Let it take you right down to your knees  
Let it burn to the worst degree  
May not be what you want, but it's what you need  
Sometimes the only way around it,  
is to let love do its work  
So go on,  
yeah, let it hurt"_

I play a short guitar solo.

_"You might just find you're better for it,  
when you let go and you learn…"_

I stop strumming on the guitar, making the pace slow, and my voice and Kinana's piano playing the only thing heard.

_"To let it hurt, let it bleed.  
Let it take you right down to your knees"_

I start strumming again.

_"Ooohhh...  
Sometimes the only way around it,  
is to let love do its work  
So go on  
And let it hurt!~  
Oh, let it hurt"_

I play the guitar for a few seconds, and then stop. Kinana's still playing the piano.

_"7:42 in the morning,  
8 seconds before it all sinks... in"_

As the song ends, I look out at the people in the café. I'm amazed to find that all of them are looking at me. It's silent. A pin could drop and you'd be able to hear it.

Then, something truly amazing happens. Someone stands up and claps. _Claps._ Someone else stands, joining in. Soon, everyone is on their feet, applauding Kinana and I. it's so unreal. In all my four years of performing here, not once has everyone applauded. This truly is a dream come true.

I smile. "Thanks, everyone. We have one more song for you guys. It's called 'Shattered'."

I start finger picking on the guitar. It creates a slow and somewhat somber melody. I sing the words slowly, and my voice is sad.

_"Yesterday I died, tomorrow's bleeding  
Fall into your sunlight  
The future's open wide, beyond believing  
To know why, hope dies  
Losing what was found, a world so hollow  
Suspended in a compromise, yeah  
The silence of this sound, is soon to follow  
Somehow, sundown_

_And finding answers,  
is forgetting all of the questions we called home  
Passing the graves of the unknown"_

There's a short pause, in which I hold a note on the guitar for a second. Then, I go back to finger picking.

_"As reason clouds my eyes, with splendor fading  
Illusions of the sunlight  
And a reflection of a lie, will keep me waiting  
With love gone, for so long_

_And this day's ending,  
is the proof of time killing all the faith I know  
Knowing that faith is all I hold"_

I stop playing the guitar as Kinana starts playing the piano. It's a slow and sad tune. She finishes the solo without any mistakes and I start strumming, picking up the speed of the song a little.

_"And I've lost who I am, and I can't understand  
Why my heart is so broken, rejecting your love, without, love gone wrong, lifeless words carry on  
But I know, all I know, is that the end's beginning  
Who I am, from the start, take me home, to my heart  
Let me go, and I will run, I will not be silent  
All this time, spent in vain, wasted years, wasted gain  
All is lost; hope remains, and this war's not over  
There's a light, there's a sun, taking all shattered ones  
To the place we belong, and his love will conquer"_

My strumming speeds up further.

_"And I've lost who I am, and I can't understand  
Why my heart is so broken, rejecting your love, without, love gone wrong, lifeless words carry on  
But I know, all I know, is that the end's beginning  
Who I am, from the start, take me home, to my heart  
Let me go, and I will run, I will not be silent  
All this time, spent in vain, wasted years, wasted gain  
All is lost; hope remains, and this war's not over  
There's a light, there's a sun, taking all shattered ones  
To the place we belong, and his love will conquer all"_

I go back to finger picking a slow and somber melody.

_"Yesterday I died, tomorrow's bleeding  
Fall into your sunlight"_

It's a very beautiful song. I wrote it because yesterday (or yester-almost-decade) everything fell away and nothing good looks like it's coming in the future. Sure, I "know" things will get better, but does it really feel that way? No. Not even close. Faith is dying because everything looks so hopeless, and I'm angry at god. I don't understand why these bad things are happening to me, and I want to believe it'll get better, but am having trouble.

I look out at the applauding audience. They enjoyed the song. However, they don't know the real meaning behind it. I can see in their eyes they think it's just a song I wrote because it sounds beautiful. They don't actually feel the emotion I put into the lyrics.

I thank them for listening. Kinana and I bow, and then exit the stage. In the kitchen, I thank Kinana for performing with me, and compliment her on her truly amazing piano skills. We agree to perform together again sometime.

I sigh as I put up the guitar. It really is a beautiful instrument, and it creates wonderful sounds. Every time I put it away, I feel like a piece of me leaves, too. I'm just so attached to music.

Saying good bye to Yajima, I exit the 8-Island Café.

I shove my hands into my jeans' pockets. It's only five in the afternoon, but the weather is chilly. The sky is dark. A storm is coming; I can feel it. A soft breeze blows, shifting my hair and swirling up some dead leaves. This is the calm before the storm.

I keep walking. Not even a block later, someone speaks behind me.

"I want to talk to you, Natsu."

I turn around, expecting Virgo or even Kinana. Who I see, though, surprises me.

"I have some questions about your songs."

Standing there, on the sidewalk as it starts to drizzle is someone I never would've thought would talk to me again. She's popular now. She has many friends. So why is she here?

She walks up to me, her blond hair now damp, her chocolate brown eyes curious.

It's Lucy.

* * *

**How was it? I would love any and all feedback. No flames, please!**

**Just so everyone knows, there are two reasons I'm updating so quickly. 1) You guys rock with your reviews! They really motivate me into writing, and 2) I'm on Winter Break right now, so I have no homework, but when school starts back up (on Jan. 5th, ugh), I won't be able to update as fast anymore. I'll try to get another chapter out before I go back to school.**

**Happy New Year's to everybody!**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review** **Responses (for some reason, the guest reviews aren't showing up on this website, but I do get them in my e-mail, so I do see them and I hold onto them):**

lunastarlight (Guest)- **I really appreciate the concern, but no, this is not happening to me. I live happily with a loving mom, dad, older sister, and two spoiled cats. Thanks so much for the compliments! I have no idea how I write this, it just comes to me. I also have no idea if I'm going to become an author, but if I do, it will be a while because I'm only twelve (thirteen in February) years old. Thanks for the song suggestion!**

050300NALU (Guest)- **OMG! Thank you! Yes, I do know when the book sucks you in, and I'm delighted that my story is doing that to you!**

YumiChan (Guest)- **Thank you! Natsu is really cute.**

Llaelien- **Thank you!**

Suyai- **Thank you! I am definitely continuing this fic, even if everyone suddenly doesn't like it anymore.**

Jay-Chammy- **I'm so happy you like it!**

Azarathia- **I totally know what you mean with the whole Lucy being bullied/kicked off Team Natsu thing! It really is overused.**

Anime4life25- **Here you go, next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed! (Review Responses in the author's note at the end of this chapter.)**

**Did anyone listen to or know the songs from last chapter? And how many of you guys read the lyrics?**

**WARNING: This chapter contains blood, pain, and abuse.**

* * *

I stand there, eyes wide, hair dripping from the rain. Lucy takes another step toward me. I take a step back.

She moves forward. I move back.

"Stop doing that!" she exclaims.

"W-what do you w-want?" I don't know why, but I have a really bad feeling. Something's going to happen.

"I just have some questions about your music," she says.

Unable to form a response, I just stand there, staring wide-eyed like an idiot.

She sighs. "Okay, first question. Why are your songs so depressing?"

Wait, what? Does she actually see the message in them?

"W-why do y-you want t-to know?" Damn my stuttering. It's not my fault, though. I don't have any good memories from my time with popular people.

"Well… I saw the look in your eyes. It looked like the songs are more personal than you let on."

She's very observant, I notice.

"W-what's it to y-you?" Mental note: tough guy act does not work for me.

"I'm just-"

A voice interrupts her. "Lucy!"

"There you are!" another voice yells.

Okay, here's the thing: I can handle talking to one person, but _eleven_ people is a whole other story. Not to mention eleven _popular _people. And them staring at me doesn't help, either. Add the fact that the five guys look intimidating and muscular, and you got one cowering Natsu.

A guy with raven-black hair moves in front of Lucy. She looks agitated at his actions, but says nothing.

"You're the guy that was onstage, right?" Mr. Protective asks.

I can't tell if he's a threat or not. He talks with little emotion. For all I know, he could be acquainted with the Raijinshuu or Sabertooth. Heck, they all could be.

I put up my guard.

When I don't give an answer, Mr. Protective glares at me. He repeats the question, to which he gets no answer.

A huge guy in the back of the group moves forward. He's big, but smaller than Laxus. His spiky black hair reaches his lower back. The thing that creeps me out the most, though, is the piercings. They're everywhere on his face, even where his eyebrows should be.

"Move aside, Gray," he says to the raven-haired teen as he shoves him out of his way. I felt scared before, but now I'm downright terrified. This group could beat me to a pulp in a matter of seconds.

"What's your name, punk." It's not a question, it's a demand.

I don't think my eyes can go any wider. I feel threatened. I feel scared. I'm terrified. I don't like being near so many people who are obviously on guard and protective of their friends.

I start backing up.

"His name is Natsu." Lucy steps between the big guy and me. Is she… protecting me?

"I just had some questions about his music. Back off." Wow, she really is protecting me.

The group visibly relaxes. I don't understand why they ever had their guard up, though. I'm not much of threat. For one, I'm classified as a 'dork, geek, nerd, loser, and wimp' at school. I'm lean, skinny, but not muscular. My eyesight sucks, thus the glasses. And, they don't know this, but I always have some injury on my body. Yeah, I'm a huge threat.

The scarlet haired girl steps forward. The two guys who confronted me back down without a word. This girl is in charge. She's the leader.

"We're sorry for causing any trouble," she apologizes. "I'm-"

She doesn't get to finish.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" I'm on the ground, writhing in agony. My glasses fall off, crashing to the floor and breaking in several places. My salmon hair stands on end. I grasp my left arm in my right.

I'm being electrocuted.

I won't go into details, but basically Jiemma 'placed' a chip in my arm that he can use to electrocute me at any time. The shocks reach all of my body, not just my left arm.

It stops. I collapse. My breathing is labored, my chest heaves. I'm on my back, looking up at the concerned face of Lucy. Her mouth is moving, but I can't hear anything besides the ringing in my ears.

I want to hurl.

Ignoring the pain and holding back a scream, I stand. Everyone looks at me worriedly. I want to tell them I'm fine, but that would be a lie. That and I have more concerning things to deal with.

That shock meant Jiemma's pissed. If I'm not home soon, I'll be shocked again, but with more intensity.

I can hear again, but I wish I couldn't. Concern for me is something I haven't experienced in a while, and it's unsettling and weird. I don't like it.

I'm not steady on my feet, and nearly fall down again, but somehow I manage to hobble past everyone. Using the side of the buildings for support, I start running as best I can toward the house. The group follows, easily catching up and blocking my path on all sides.

"Move." I'm surprised at how strong my voice sounds.

"Nat-"

"I said move."

Finding strength I don't know I have, I charge. They move out of the way.

I keep running. I hear them behind me. They're catching up.

I speed up, turning a corner into a back alley. This is the way I get home every day. It's secluded, quiet, and relatively safe.

The thing about back alleys: they're like mazes. There are so many different paths to take that if you don't know where you're going, you'll get lost. It's also the perfect place to escape from people that are chasing you.

After many twists and turns, I look back. I lost them. Good.

I slow to a walk. I'm only a minute or two away from the house. It's probably a stupid decision to go back, but if I don't, Jiemma will electrocute me again, maybe even to death. While my life is terrible right now, some part of me doesn't want to die.

Turning one last corner, I reach the house. My pulse races as I open the front door. It's dark. Not a good sign. I take off my shoes, place them by the door, and walk down the hallway that leads to the kitchen.

I'm punched the second I set foot in the kitchen. I fall, landing on my back. Blood drips from my lip.

"Stand, boy." I can't see him, but he's there. Judging by the reek of alcohol in the air, he's been drinking. He's probably drunk.

I obey, dragging myself to my feet, only to be knocked down again. Jiemma grabs a fistful of my hair, holding me up, and punches me in the gut. Over and over and over again.

When he's done, I'm left on my knees, retching and coughing up blood.

The lights turn on, but without my glasses, I'm blind as a bat.

The bastard knees me in the nose, breaking it. Blood spurts everywhere. I'm lightheaded and dizzy, hunched over in agonizing pain.

Using his oversized foot, he shoves my head into the floor. He kneels with one knee on my chest, making it hard to breathe.

He says a couple words, steps on my ankle, and leaves me in a pool of my own blood. I'm supposed to clean this mess up, but how can I when I can't see, am lightheaded, coughing up blood, in so much freaking pain, and possibly have a broken ankle?

I lie there for I don't know how long. When I finally rise to clean up, the words he spoke are the only thing on my mind.

"Next time you're late, the punishment will be worse."

* * *

That night I don't sleep at all, even though I feel like I could hibernate.

I'm in so much pain that I actually made a mental list of all my injuries.

1\. Broken nose

2\. Broken ankle

3\. Split lip

4\. Possible concussion

5._ Many _bruises

Man, I feel like shit. I spend all night using random things in the attic to make crutches and splints. What I make is so uncomfortable; I actually consider not using them. In the end, I use them.

Like always, I get up at 3:30 a.m. I'm a little slower than usual, but still manage to be out of the house by 4:35.

I bring more money with me today so that I can buy first-aid supplies at a drug store. With the money I have, I'm able to buy band-aids, gauze, pain killers, and the owner of the store lets me borrow a pair of crutches since we know each other. He's a nice guy.

In the restroom, I wrap the gauze around my chest, stomach, head, and ankle. I place band-aids over various cuts on my body. I swallow some pain killers.

When I get to school, no one pays attention to me. Thank goodness. I hate attention.

The Raijinshuu are for some reason not harming me before classes start. I'm not complaining.

Sabertooth, however, is not so nice.

"Did someone finally man up and fight?" Rufus asks playfully.

"Ha-ha! It looks more like he manned up and got beat to a pulp!" Orga insults.

Rogue chuckles.

Sting grabs my crutches, making me get off balance and fall to the floor. I lean my back against the lockers, keeping my injured foot close to me.

The leader of Sabertooth gets way too close to my face. His smirk never leaves as he grabs me by the shirt – which is long-sleeved to hide bruises and cuts – and pulls me up.

"Now," he starts, "give me your money."

I reach into my pocket, grabbing at the money to give him, when a voice makes both of us freeze.

"Sting! What the hell are you doing?!"

Sting's hold on me disappears. I fall, hitting my back on the lockers on the way down.

Coughing, I lift my head to see her.

"L-lucy...?" I croak. "R-run…"

She ignores me. Stomping up to him, she pokes a finger on Sting's chest.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she repeats. "You're better than this! What's the point of doing this?!"

He moves closer to her, a sly smile on his face. "Come on, Lucy baby, why're you defending this trash?" He wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. "Why don't you and I ditch? We could… have some fun." At the last part, he traces a finger up Lucy's side.

Before he could reach where he was aiming, I grab a crutch and trip him. Lucy pushes away from him at the same time, adding more force to his fall.

Sting lands hard on his back. Sabertooth approaches, obviously enraged that we hurt their leader.

I think we're done for.

"Leave," Lucy demands. When they make no move to do so, she adds, "Before I get Erza to kick all your asses."

Whoever this 'Erza' is has a huge reputation to be able to make Sabertooth back off. They retreat, even Sting.

When they're out of sight, Lucy turns to me. I'm so grateful I can't form any words to express it.

"Oh god," she whispers. "Did they do this to you?" She bends down next to me, hovering a hand over my arm, afraid to touch it.

I sit up, leaning my back against the lockers. "No."

She looks at me with unshed tears in her eyes. "Then who did?" Her voice wavers.

I don't know how to respond. I'm not ready to tell anyone about Jiemma, but I can't lie to the person that just saved me. There's only one thing to do.

I shake my head in a 'no' gesture.

She steels herself. "Come on, then. I'll take you to the nurse's office." She tugs on my arm.

"N-no. I'm fine." I pull away from her grip. Trust me when I say this: I would kill for a chance at going to the nurse. Only problem is, they demand the story of your injuries.

She looks at me with eyes that say _you're obviously _not _fine._

"I-I'm fine," I insist. To prove my point, I stand, using the crutches.

"Fine."

I shrug on my back pack and head to first period, which is amazingly difficult without my glasses. I can't see anything without my glasses. Saying that, I feel like Velma from Scooby-Doo.

Lucy follows me, occasionally pointing out where the hallways are.

It's awkwardly silent until we get to the classroom.

"Well, uh, I'll see you later," I say.

"This is your class?" she asks.

I nod my head yes.

She gives a playful smirk. "This is my class, too. Come on."

Together, we enter the classroom right as the bell rings.

* * *

**How was it?**

**I think next chapter will be happier, but I'm not sure yet.**

**You guys are so awesome with your reviews! I love you all! Please keep reviewing, it really motivates me!**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses (for some reason, some of the reviews don't show up on this website, but I do get them in e-mail. I'll try to solve the problem):**

050300NALU (Guest)- **You know what I look for every time I check my e-mail? Your reviews. They always make me so happy! Thanks so much for supporting me!**

lunastarlight (Guest)- **Thank you! I actually read a fan fic called **Suicidal Boyfriend **and it's what made me want to write this. My fan fic is darker and more angst-y ****than that one, though.**

Azarathia- **Lucy will hug Natsu, I promise!**

FairyTailLover390- **Thank you!**

CelestialTroll- **I'm so happy you like this story!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! What's up? Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed! You have no idea how much it means to me! (Like always, review responses are at the bottom.)**

**Here's chapter 5! **

* * *

I flip through my songbook as the teacher goes on and on about something I don't care to listen to. It's only first period, and I'm ready to go home. Actually, scratch that, not home, but somewhere that's not school and not home. Maybe a park, or the library, or the café… I don't know, just somewhere quiet, peaceful, and safe.

Then I remember something: I have a spare pair of glasses in my bag! After a few minutes of rummaging through my bag, I find them. They look exactly the same as my other pair. I put them on. You don't know how great it feels to have them back.

I look out the window that's next to my seat in the back row. Today is gloomy. Rain pounds against the glass as the wind tugs trees, seeming to want to uproot them. It's stormy; thunder crackles, echoing through the building. Lightning flashes, lighting up the sky and splitting the clouds.

Storms unnerve me. They're dangerous, loud, and bright; the exact opposite of me. They make me jump every time thunder decides to boom; lightning lights up dark spots, making hiding nearly impossible. I think, though, the main reason is because something _really _bad happens to me when storms come. It's like they're warning me.

A shiver goes up my spine. What more could life and fate have in store for me? My life is already ruined, so why keep torturing me?

Looking back to my songbook, I realize I haven't actually been reading or working on it. I've just been daydreaming as I flip the pages. Well, I'm not going to get anything done right now. I put my songbook away.

The teacher is still going on about who knows what. Half the class is asleep or is trying to. Some people, those classified as nerds and geeks, are taking notes and listening attentively. Most of those who are awake are whispering or passing notes.

I spot Lucy in the third row. She's sitting next to her friend with the short blue hair from yesterday. I think Lucy said her name is Debby. No, maybe Bevy? Levy! Her name is Levy. They seem to be whispering about something, probably just girl talk.

I put my head down, relaxing while the teacher's monotone voice keeps lecturing an uninterested class.

Finally, the bell rings. I'm the last one out of the class.

I turn the corner and am surprised to see Lucy waiting for me.

"Are you going to be okay getting to second period?" she asks.

I nod.

"I'll see you in third period, then." She waves goodbye. I wave back.

I hobble on the crutches to my next class. I'm slow, off-balance, and jumpy. Anyone could easily harm me. People push and shove, bump into each other, and stand in the way. Someone knocks into me, almost making me fall. They don't apologize. Instead, they rush back to their friends and joke around. Regaining some balance, I continue heading to class.

A miracle has happened. I, Natsu Dragneel, a bullied and tormented kid labeled as 'geek, nerd, dork, wimp, and loser', have somehow made it to class without being bullied. With a sigh of relief, I go to my seat in the back. The storm is still raging outside, making me somewhat regret choosing a window seat. Oh, well.

During second period, I tune out the teacher. What's the point of keeping up my grades, anyway? I know Jiemma will beat me senseless either way, and he probably doesn't care about my grades.

After a really boring lesson, the bell rings. I exit last, like always.

In the hallway, I pass the Raijinshuu. They look at me, but make no move to attack. Laxus nods at me like, _since you're injured, we won't hurt you, but when you're healed, prepare to beg for your life. _I shudder. At least I'm safe from them for now.

After that, my journey to class is uneventful. Thank goodness.

I sit in the seat I sat in yesterday. The group of popular girls, including Lucy, arrives a short time after I do. They sit in the same seats as yesterday, too. Lucy is a seat away from me.

She looks at me questioningly. I don't know what she's asking, but it's either _are you okay? _Or _do you want to meet my friends? _Or maybe even _where'd you get the glasses?_

I mouth the words 'I'm fine'. She smiles at that.

In all honesty, I don't know how I feel about Lucy and the concern and kindness she's showing me. I mean, yeah, I want friends, but it's been around eight years since I've had any, so it's really strange. Unsettling, is a better word.

I'm about to stare out the window when Lucy jerks her head towards her friends. It's a gesture asking _do you want to meet them._

Slowly, I shake my head no.

She sighs, then turns and talks to Levy.

We don't talk the whole class period. She's busy taking notes while I stare out the window.

When the bell finally rings, the class is empty in a matter of seconds. That's to be expected, though. After all, it's lunch time.

Only the popular girls and I remain. They're whispering about something. Usually, I wouldn't be interested, but they keep glancing at me. Just as I'm about to leave the room, they move closer, somewhat surrounding me. I move my chair back so it's resting against the wall.

The brown haired girl sits on a desk to my left. The white haired girl stands almost next to me on my right. The ocean-blue haired girl stands next to the white haired girl. Levy stands next to her with Lucy on her right. The scarlet haired girl stands between Lucy and the brown haired girl. She's directly in front of me, another clue that she's in charge.

"What happened yesterday," the scarlet haired girl demands.

I have no plans on answering, but before I even have the chance to say anything, Lucy interrupts.

"Let's not worry about that right now." She swiftly looks at me, her eyes asking me to explain to her later. "Let me introduce you girls to Natsu."

The white haired girl replies first. "I'm Lisanna. It's nice to meet you."

I'm too nervous to respond.

"I'm Cana," the brown haired girl says.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Juvia," the ocean-blue haired girl greets.

Levy introduces herself next, not knowing Lucy already told me who she is.

All that's left is the scarlet haired girl. She has this aura that radiates power and control. It's kind of scary.

"I am Erza. I hope we will be good friends."

Well, that's everyone. Can I go now? This is really making me uncomfortable.

"Not much of a talker is he?" Cana asks. You're exactly right, Cana. I'm not a talker, so if I can just go now…

I look at Lucy, hoping she sees the message in my eyes that I don't like this. I know I'm a wimp. I'm the man here, I shouldn't be cowering. But when you haven't talked to anyone in eight years, it's not easy doing it to six new people, especially the opposite gender.

"H-hi," I manage. I know, not much, but it's all I could get out.

"So he does talk!" Cana jokes, at least I think it's a joke.

They giggle. It's a much higher pitch than I'm used to. Usually, it's the deep chuckles of Laxus and Sting.

I send Lucy another look, pleading her with my eyes to end this. I bet you males are at home, yelling at the top of your lungs to hit on one of these hot chicks. Yeah . . . not gonna happen anytime soon.

This time, Lucy gives in.

"Can I talk to Natsu alone?"

Erza nods. The girls start heading out of the room, leaving only Lucy and I. On their way out, I swear I hear one of them say "She likes him." They rolled their tongue on 'like'.

I stay silent, not wanting to be the first to speak for I would say something wrong.

Lucy asks, "Do you not like them? Sure, they can be a bit nosy, but they're not bad people."

Somehow, I find my voice. "I-it's not t-that," I stutter. "I-it's just that I-I haven't t-talked to anyone in y-years…"

Worry takes hold of her expression. "How many years?"

"E-eight, I think."

"Eight?!" Lucy shrieks.

I nod my head numbly.

Her voice softens. "Natsu… that's not healthy…"

She's obviously concerned about me, and I think she wants to help. Truthfully, I would love one or two people I could trust, count on, and maybe even tell my darkest secret to; I think that's what friends are. But I'm not ready for a huge crowd yet.

"Why don't you make some friends, then? Have you ever tried?" she asks.

I shake my head no. I have never tried. That's the scary truth.

"Well then, why don't you come to lunch with me and the girls? You could make plenty of friends. I think you would like the guys we hang out with, too."

My eyes widen. I kind of thought that was where Lucy was going with this conversation, so I'm not surprised. So why, you ask, did my eyes widen? The answer is simple: I'm scared. Yes, I'm scared. Why don't I repeat it so no one can say they heard (or read) wrong? I. Am. Scared.

Most would think that after eight years of being alone, I'd be tired of it. Truthfully, I am. I want friends, people I can trust with my life, with my secret, my pain. I'd do anything to get that. But when it comes to actually _meeting these people_, I'm scared as hell. After being abused, bullied, beaten, broken, I've developed this really weird fear. A fear of people, of humans. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't wish to be alone, truly alone. Especially if it means this torture would end.

But then I think about it deeper, and I realize I'd go mad without the presence of others, friend or foe, around me. Any person would. The principal of this school once told me, "There are people in this world who prefer solitude. But there is no one who can withstand it."

Just so you don't get the wrong idea, no, he does not know about my life. I went to him, because I trusted no one else, saying I was in depression and wanted to leave for a while. He then gave me this really long, really inspiring speech, ending it with that line. Because of him, I stayed. I felt better after hearing his words of wisdom, and I managed to pull through one of the worst beatings I've ever had from Jiemma because of him. He's the closest thing I have to family.

"Natsu?"

I realize I've been staring off into space, completely ignoring Lucy. I snap back to reality, the weight of her question hitting me its hardest.

Finally, I give her an answer.

"I-I'm sorry, Lucy, b-but I have t-to decline. I'll j-just go to the l-library."

I was expecting a lot of emotions to cross her face: uncaring, anger, maybe even disappointment, but hurt was what I saw instead. Raw hurt. I hurt her, I hurt Lucy. She's the closest thing I have to a friend, and I hurt her. How, I have no idea. I'm a loner, why would she care about me? I didn't think she'd care enough to be hurt at my refusal.

"Y-you don't like us?" Her voice shakes.

"No! That's not it! I mean, I'm just not used to it, so many people. I like you, I really do. You're the one person I can call 'friend'. It's just that, it's…" I trail off, not really wanting to tell her about my fear of people.

"It's just… what?"

I sigh. I might as well go ahead and tell her.

"It's just that I'm afraid of people."

Lucy looks at me, her expression hard to read. There's a pause.

"So that's why you have no friends," she eventually mumbles.

"Yeah," I agree.

She gives me a warm, sincere smile. A true smile. Not a cruel smirk like I'm used to from bullies, but a real, honest smile.

"Please Natsu," she says. "Give it a try. It won't be too bad, and I'll be right next to you the whole time." When I give no answer, she adds, "Please… for me?"

Something hits me right then. Lucy's concerned about me being a social outcast. She wants me to have friends and not be lonely. It's genuine care for another human being that's driving her actions. I think that's just the type of person she is.

I sigh, debating my options. The group seemed protective of one another, not the type to go around bullying others. Maybe I can get along with them. Maybe I can have… friends.

"You promise?" I ask.

Her warm, chocolate brown eyes light up. Hope shines in their depths.

"Yes." Her answer is steady and sure, positive.

"Okay, then," I say. "I'll go."

* * *

**How was it? It feels kind of rushed to me...**

**The third guild master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyer (the principal in this fic), did say that in the subbed anime, so it's a quote from the anime, I didn't make it up. I really love that quote.**

**Well, school has resumed, which really sucks. I also have row practice Mon., Tues., and Thurs. until 5:30 and I don't get home until 6. And then on Thurs. I also have this sport called goal ball from 6:30 to 8. Then throw in basketball and homework... Basically, I have a busy schedule and won't be able to update really fast.**

**Next chapter introduces everyone that's currently not in this fic yet but is a huge part in the anime/manga series. I'm excited about writing that chapter!**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses (some weird thing happened and now the guest reviews seem to be showing up on the website. Yay!):**

050300NALU (guest)- **Thanks so much for reviewing and supporting me! I'm so happy that I made you feel something with my writing (even if it was sadness)! I totally know what you mean with the Natsu pill scene. It is kinda funny to imagine but it's scary what he was actually going to do. Thanks for the song suggestion! I think it will work. Thanks again for reviewing!**

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FairyTailLover390- **Sting was a person she met on her first day of school. Think of Sting as the type of guy that just wants to get in a girl's pants. They weren't exactly friends yet.**

Jay-Chammy- **I'm just happy you like this fic!**

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MikurisanScarlet- **I'm so happy you like it!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! I apologize for the late-ish update, but I've been so freaking busy lately.**

**Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed! It means the world to me! (Do I even need to tell you guys that Review Responses are at the bottom anymore?)**

I found this poem on someone's profile, and I think it fits with this story well:

My name is Sarah  
I am but three,  
My eyes are swollen  
I cannot see,  
I must be stupid  
I must be bad,  
What else could have made  
My daddy so mad?  
I wish I were better  
I wish I weren't ugly,  
Then maybe my mommy  
Would still want to hug me.  
I can't speak at all  
I can't do a wrong  
Or else I'm locked up  
All the day long.  
When I awake I'm all alone  
The house is dark  
My folks aren't home  
When my mommy does come  
I'll try and be nice,  
So maybe I'll get just  
One whipping tonight.  
Don't make a sound!  
I just heard a car  
My daddy is back  
From Charlie's Bar.  
I hear him curse  
My name he calls  
I press myself  
Against the wall  
I try and hide  
From his evil eyes  
I'm so afraid now  
I'm starting to cry  
He finds me weeping  
He shouts ugly words,  
He says its my fault  
That he suffers at work.  
He slaps me and hits me  
And yells at me more,  
I finally get free  
And I run for the door.  
He's already locked it  
And I start to bawl,  
He takes me and throws me  
Against the hard wall.  
I fall to the floor  
With my bones nearly broken,  
And my daddy continues  
With more bad words spoken.  
"I'm sorry!", I scream  
But its now much too late  
His face has been twisted  
Into unimaginable hate  
The hurt and the pain  
Again and again  
Oh please God, have mercy!  
Oh please let it end!  
And he finally stops  
And heads for the door,  
While I lay there motionless  
Sprawled on the floor  
My name is Sarah  
And I am but three,  
Tonight my daddy  
Murdered me.

I was crying when I read this. If you have an account, and are against child abuse, copy and paste this poem to your profile (it's on my profile if you need to go there to copy it).

**...**

**On a happier note, I like how this chapter turned out, and I hope you guys enjoy it too. So without further ado...**

**Here's chapter six!**

* * *

_Why did I agree to this again? _I wonder as I hobble down the hall on the crutches. Do I really want to do this? Won't I be pushing myself beyond my comfort zone? Is it healthy to do that? Then again, maybe that's what I need.

Lucy hums lightly next to me. It's a tune I'm unfamiliar with. Maybe it's one from her childhood? Either way, it's pretty and soothes some of my nerves.

My arms are starting to get sore from using the crutches all day. I don't have much arm strength to begin with. I notice my pace has slowed down, too. From nerves or soreness or both, I don't know.

Using the crutches, I take another hop on my uninjured foot. I misstep. That's it; I'm going to fall flat on my face, in the middle of the hallway, with my only friend next to me. I bet it's going to hurt, too. I brace myself for the impact.

But I never hit the floor.

Lucy wraps her arms around my shoulders, steadying me. She helps me regain my balance on the wobbly crutches. I'm grateful to her. She saved me from something embarrassing and painful.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asks, her voice full of concern

"Y-yeah," I stutter. "Thanks."

She smiles softly at me in return. We continue heading towards the cafeteria.

When we arrive at our destination, it's crowded, like it was yesterday. Lucy tells me she's going to go tell the group that we're here before heading off into the crowd. This leaves me alone. In the middle of a crowd. With potential threats everywhere around me. I hurry to the lunch line in order to escape.

The line is fairly short since Lucy and I arrived late. It works out for me; less of a wait, and less people. I have my lunch in no time: a sandwich, bottled water, and an apple. It's not much, I know, but it's all I can afford since I paid for first-aid supplies this morning.

Lucy returns and buys her lunch. I wait for her; I don't want to meet these people without her near. After receiving her food, a sandwich, bag of chips, juice box, a peach, and a cookie, she joins me. She looks at me incredulously.

"Is that all you're getting?" Her question surprises me. This is what I usually eat, when I eat at all. Does she eat more?

"Yeah," I reply. "It's all I can afford."

"I have some extra money. I can get you something," Lucy offers.

I'm genuinely shocked at the gesture. Never once in my life since my dad died had anyone offered me anything besides trouble and pain.

Not being used to being on the receiving end of an offer, I decline. "No, it's fine. I always eat this amount, anyways."

I see something flash behind her eyes. Worry, concern, fear, I don't know; those only seemed to be part of it. I think the other part is confusion, like she is trying to figure out something. She quickly hides it, though, so I don't get a good look.

"Are you sure?" she asks. "I mean, that's not good for you. You should eat more than that."

_Yeah, I should,_ I think. I really should. I'm starting to lose weight, an unhealthy amount if I might add. When I take my shirt off at night, my ribs are starting to be visible under my scarred and battered skin. My energy is depleting quicker, too.

I shake my head. "I'm sure." My voice isn't as steady as I am hoping for, but Lucy seems to buy it, giving a little "Okay" in response.

We start making our way towards a table. Lucy walks in front of me as I hobble slowly behind, juggling with the lunch tray and crutches. It's really hard, and I now know why people that are on crutches have a friend help them carry their stuff. I don't want to be more of a bother to Lucy, though, so I keep quiet.

When we make it to the table, Lucy plops down on a seat next to Levy, patting the seat on her other side, gesturing me to sit down next to her. I oblige, placing my tray on the table and carefully sitting down, placing my crutches under the table.

All talking stops, making me fidget. Everyone's looking at me, their gazes curious. I look down at my food, avoiding eye-contact with them.

Lucy clears her throat. "This is Natsu."

At the sound of my name, I peek up with one eye.

The raven-haired guy across from me greets me first, "Hey Natsu, I'm Gray, Gray Fullbuster." He holds out his hand, which I tentatively shake. His hand grasps mine firmly, while mine is barely touching his. He leans back and points to the man next to him. "This is Jellal Fernandes. He's not much of a talker."

Jellal turns more to see me clearer, revealing a red tattoo down the entire right side of his face, previously hidden by his azure hair. He gives a small wave in greeting, which I return. I think I'm going to like this Jellal guy; he's like me, not a talker.

Gray then turns to the guy on his other side. "The metal face over here is Gajeel Redfox. He does talk more than Jellal, but still not much. Just to warn you, when he does, it's usually foul language."

Gajeel gives Gray a glare, more menacing than others can achieve with his many piercings and red eyes. "Shut it, Ice Prick."

"And I," the ginger-haired man next to me says, "am the lovely, wonderful, amazing, Loke Celeste."

"You didn't have to add the 'lovely, wonderful, amazing', you know," the black haired guy next to him mutters, taking a swig from a bottle.

"I did, in fact, Bacchus. I am just so-" His little speech is cut short when Bacchus elbows him in the stomach.

I look at Lucy, who just rolls her eyes like this is normal for them. Then she says, "You've already met the girls," – at this the girls wave – "and I doubt Sting will be showing up after this morning, so that only leaves Laxus."

My eyes widen. My breathing becomes more rapid and shallow. Oh shit, _Laxus is here._

Next to Jellal, Laxus leans forward in his seat so he's now in my line of sight. "Yo," he greets like we haven't met before. "I'm Laxus Dreyer." I see in his eyes a message, something like _pretend we haven't met, and I'll go easy on you next time. _I hope this is right as I hesitantly wave in his direction.

After the initial greetings, everyone goes back to their previous conversations, leaving me awkwardly sitting there amongst them. Gray turns to me, a thoughtful expression showing on his pale features.

"You're that guy that was singing at the 8-Island Café, right?" I nod up-and-down in answer. "What happened in the street after that? And what happened to you?" He gestures at my beat up body on the last part.

I don't know how to reply. I can't tell anyone. I can't let anyone know, or figure it out. I know he's just curious, and maybe even concerned, but he just _can't know._

I look down, refusing to meet his gaze.

Lucy interrupts before Gray can say anything. "Natsu said he'd tell me everything later," she says. She saved me, and I'm thankful for that, but I never said I'd tell her anything. I wrack my brain for it, but come up with nothing. I never said that. "Right, Natsu?"

Wait, what? She wants me to agree with the lie? I can't do that! It would mean I have to tell her, which I _can't do!_ She's leaving me with no other choice, though. I shake my head, agreeing. This is going to cause me hardships later, I just know it.

Lucy gives a satisfied smile, turning back to Levy. Gray looks questioningly at me, like _why would tell her and not me? _One, I never agreed to telling her. And two, I've known her longer than him, so if I am ever going to tell someone, it would be her, no questions asked, no second thoughts.

Gray sighs in defeat. "So, Natsu, what are some things you like?"

"Huh?" Have I ever mentioned that I'm bad at talking with people? Well, I am.

"Like hobbies or something," he suggests.

I think about this for a bit. What _do _I like? I don't have many things to choose from.

"I don't know," I finally answer.

"No, really?" Gray says, thinking I'm joking, which I'm not.

"I really don't know," I say. It's the truth, too.

"Are you serious?" Gray asks, finding it hard to believe.

"Well… playing with my dad was always fun." I don't mention the fact that I mean my biological, blood related dad, not the sadistic bastard that adopted me.

"What do you guys do together?" Gray asks curiously.

Do? Present tense? Then I realize Gray didn't catch my slip of the tongue where I said 'was' instead of 'is'. He thinks my father is still alive.

I decide to play along. It will help hide my home life. "When I was younger," I start, "we would go to parks and climb the playground. He would push me on the swings until I learned to swing on my own. He taught me to read and write, too. We wrestled, played board games, and just had a good time together. He's the best."

"That sounds nice," Gray says. "What about now? What do you guys do now?"

_Why is he so curious about my dad and past? _I mentally ask myself. I think of things a dad does with his eighteen year old son. What do dads do with kids my age anyway? I have no idea, but before I can come up with something, or Gray can ask anything else, the bell rings. Lunch is over.

I wolf down the rest of my lunch in what people call record time. For me it's normal time because it gets me out of the house quickly.

Everyone stands, saying quick good-byes to those they won't see until later and walking away with the people that are going in the same direction. I wave good-bye to Jellal as he nods his.

Gray turns to me. "See you later, Natsu."

"Nice meeting you, Gray," I reply. It's not a lie. I did enjoy meeting him. I only wish that I didn't have so many close calls while doing it.

He walks away with Loke. I grab my things, shifting them so I can carry them while on crutches. I'm getting so tired of having to use them; they're really making my arms hurt. Oh well, it's either suffer through the soreness or not be able to walk. I'll go with the former.

As I turn to leave, Lucy appears at my side. "You going to be okay for the rest of the day?" she asks.

I nod. "I think so."

"Okay." She pauses. "Meet me outside the main doors after school ends, 'kay."

"W-why?"

"Just promise me you'll be there."

"O-okay," I agree. I don't have work today, so this'll give me a chance to stay away from Jiemma longer.

Lucy grins. "See you then!" she calls as she races to catch up with Erza. I wave to her retreating figure.

The rest of the day is pretty uneventful. There's no sign of Sting or Sabertooth, thank goodness. The Raijinshuu are still leaving me be, which is odd but appreciated. Maybe they do have hearts after all.

Fourth period goes by in a breeze. I basically day dream during the entire class period while the teacher gives a lecture in a monotone voice to a class that isn't even paying attention.

Fifth period is only a little different than fourth, what with Gray, Loke, Gajeel, and Jellal. I sit in my usual seat by the window, they sit near me. We engage in some small talk, but once the lesson starts, there's no time to converse any further.

Sixth period will forever be the slowest class, mainly because it's the last period of the day. The clock mocks an eager-to-leave school by moving at the slowest pace ever. The tension in the room builds until the last bell of the day rings, releasing the all-too-eager students from the stress of the day.

I pack up as quickly as I can while still avoiding the people in the halls. I'm curious as to why Lucy wants me to meet her. It's not like I'm fun, or have anything to offer.

Adjusting my bag, I wobble on unsteady crutches to the main doors of Fairy Tail High.

It's time to find out what Lucy has in store.

* * *

**What does Lucy want? Why is Laxus being 'nice'? What happened to Sting? Okay, so I have no idea on the last two, I just make stuff up as I go, but I know the first! I kind of know the second, and I'll make plans for the third...**

**I really hope you guys liked this chapter and its somewhat of a cliffhanger ending!**

**I don't have anything else to say except that I have no idea when my next update will be, but I promise you this: I WILL NOT ABANDON ANY OF MY STORIES NO MATTER WHAT!**

**Ahem...**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses:**

FlyingDoll4- **Yep**

CelestialTroll- **Your review made me smile like an idiot all day. Thanks for the support!**

Azarathia- **Ikr! Thanks for reviewing and the support!**

Shugo Fairy 4eva- **Loved the review! Had me grinning for so long, my friends gave me weird looks**

Llaelien- **Thanks so much!**

bored-outa-my-mind97- **Lol thanks!**

Dark Shining Light- **(love your pin name!) Thanks a bunch! I promise there will be more NaLu feels (maybe some in the next chapter? I can add some in if you want)**

Risshu- **Thanks! There will be (hopefully) tons of NaLu fluff in future chapters**

Anime4life25- **Thanks so much!**

MikurisanScarlet- **I love knowing how much you love this story! Please keep leaving your wonderful reviews!**

050300NALU- **Thanks! I still love, and look forward to, your reviews! Yeah, I play b-ball. I've been playing since kindergarten (I'm in 7th grade). It's my most favorite sport! I actually would've updated this story sooner, but I had a game.**

CyanFoxX- **OMG I loved reading your review so much! It made my day! Thanks for supporting me! Please review again!**

artistofthemind- **Thanks so, so much! I was thinking about maybe writing a separate story that's this story but out of Lucy's POV. Does that make sense? Basically it's this story in Lucy's POV with a separate title and summary and stuff. I can do that once I finsh **My Savior **if you want.**

yamiyuga- **Thanks! Were you bullied?! Are you currently being bullied?!**

Guest- **I looked up 'The Kill' and I think it will work. Thanks for the suggestion!**

lunastarlight (guest)-** I will not abandon or stop any of my stories, so please don't think that about them. I got your second review today. Ironically, it was while I was typing this chapter XD. It's kinda creepy that you were right about me updating soon... I hope you enjoyed this and I'll try to update ASAP.**

xFairyTailLucyx- **Thanks so much! *tears of joy***

**Whew! Done with Review Responses! It took me literally an hour...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys! Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed! 77 reviews in 6 chapters! You guys are awesome! This story is officially my most reviewed one, which makes me so happy! Personally, this is my favorite of my three stories. (After this chapter, just expect Review Responses at the bottom unless I tell you otherwise.)**

**I've been forgetting to say this, but Natsu DOES NOT have his scarf. He will get it later in the story, I promise. I actually have that planned out... a miracle has happened.**

**PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER!**

**Here's chapter seven!**

* * *

I'm pushed against the cold, hard lockers in the deserted school hallway. I was hobbling on unsteady crutches when this, this, _bastard _came out of nowhere and attacked me. I feel like he's out for revenge; he probably is, after the events of this morning. He seems more than pissed. Infuriated is the best word, or seething with rage. It's radiating off him in strong waves.

It's Sting. Just him, no posse. Still, I'm no match for this strong, athletic football player.

"You made a fool of me this morning, bitch, but now it's your turn. And I'm gonna repay you tenfold," he snarls, a twisted grin forming on his lightly tanned face.

I know better than to do this, but I scowl. I'm injured, for one, and this morning was only because Lucy was there. She helped me. In a way, she started the "counter attack." I wouldn't have fought back if she hadn't arrived. But, its better I get hurt instead of her. I'm used to it, she's not.

I replace my previous scowl with an emotionless face. If I'm going to get beaten to a bloody pulp, I might as well not give Sting the pleasure of a reaction.

Sting growls; he's growing more infuriated by my lack of being intimidated. His teeth are visible, showing sharp canines, like a dog's. I'm scared, yes, but I don't show it.

He surprisingly releases me, letting me drop to the floor like some dead weight. I can't stand; my crutches lie some yards away, completely out of my reach. I sit up, leaning against the metal lockers. Sting steps back, blocking the path to the tools that help me stand and walk.

He takes another step back, only to use it to get somewhat of a running start and kick me square in the gut. I bend over, clasping my abdomen in an unbelievable amount of pain. This guy can kick. And Jiemma kicked that same spot last night.

"That was for making me look stupid," Sting says. "And this is for ruining my relationship with the big-boobed blonde." He kicks me again, this time harder, in my stomach. I double over, my cheek hitting the tiled floor, and cough up blood.

He continuously kicks me, each one only getting so much harder and painful. My vision is fading, I'm losing a lot of blood, and I'll be bruised for the next month at least. Nevertheless, I use my unsteady hand to cover my stomach, blocking his next kick. He pauses, his foot returning to his side, and glares down at me with his ferocious royal blue eyes.

I return his glare, looking up through my salmon bangs. He can make fun of and hurt me all he wants - I don't care anymore - but no one will speak of my only friend like he just did.

"Lucy." I cough up more blood.

"Huh," Sting demands in his obnoxious, snotty voice.

"Lucy," I repeat. "Her name is Lucy."

Sting sneers at me. "Oh, you mean the new girl with big boobs? Yeah, she's mine. Stay away if you know what's good for you." He gets right in my face at the last part.

I continue to glare at him, a mix of hatred, anger, and the feeling of being threatened swimming in my onyx eyes. I've had it, but I can't do anything. I feel useless, defeated, and utterly helpless. I'm shattered.

Sting steps back, lifting his face from mine. A cruel, triumphant smirk overcomes his features, and I know what's coming next.

He lifts his foot behind him, getting momentum for the oncoming kick to my face. He swings when something totally unexpected happens.

I'm saved.

A big, rough hand lands on Sting's shoulder. His head whips around to stare into the piercing red eyes of Gajeel Redfox.

"And you are," Sting snarls, not even trying to mask the venom in his voice.

"A friend of Pinky," Gajeel replies in a voice that's calm and collected, but full of an unspoken threat. He shoves Sting away from me, getting in-between us. I sigh in relief.

Sting does not look happy at all. He steps forward, positioning himself in a fighting stance, challenging Gajeel. I look on with uncertainty. Can Gajeel really win if it comes to a fist fight? I don't know anything about the guy, but I don't think he's on the football team like Sting.

Gajeel doesn't move.

Confusion crosses Sting's eyes before a look of victory takes hold. He thinks he's already won, that Gajeel is surrendering.

He finds out he is so wrong.

Gajeel grabs Sting's wrist as he tries to punch him. Using the momentum from Sting's attack, Gajeel flips him over himself, onto his back, and places his combat-booted foot firmly on his chest. Gajeel glowers down at the teen beneath him, a dark aura surrounding him.

"You know who Erza Scarlet is, right?" Sting weakly nods, his tough-guy act gone. "Yeah, well, I know her personally, and she scares the shit out of me. Unless you want someone like that after you, you will leave."

A deep, guttural growl escapes from Sting, but he nods. Gajeel pulls him up and throws him toward the intersection in the hallway. Sting sends one last, intense glare before stalking off, cursing quite loudly.

I lift myself from the floor into a sitting position. Gajeel walks over, my crutches in hand, and helps me up.

"You okay?" he asks, his voice still deep and scratchy like always.

I nod. I'm obviously _not _okay, but what the hell?

"Good." He nods once. "Where're you headed?" He hands me my crutches, and I steady myself on them, grabbing my bag.

I swallow a clump of blood before answering. "Th-the main entrance," I say, my voice thick from the red liquid. "To meet Lucy," I add.

"I have to meet up with Shrimp," Gajeel says, "but I'll walk you there so you don't get hurt again."

"T-thanks," I stutter, wondering who 'Shrimp' is.

His lip lifts slightly. His version of a smile, I guess. "It's what friends do."

_Friends._

There's that word again. Friends. I finally have some. I actually have… friends. And they care about me, to the point where they will defend me. It's a nice feeling, one I realize I've missed.

As we exit the building, I see no sign of Sting. Good.

Lucy waits on a bench outside. Gajeel waves good-bye before leaving me to journey to Lucy alone. I thank him again before he leaves.

I wobble over to Lucy. She stands when I'm a couple steps away from her. As I approach, I see her face go from happy, to confusion, to shock, to worry. She rushes forward, closing the few feet between us.

Her trembling hands cover her mouth. Tears form in the corners of her eyes. "Natsu…" she breathes out. "W-what happened?"

I look down at myself. I'm bruised, dirty and scratched everywhere. I ache all over, and it's hard to stay upright.

"Oh, this?" I reply, trying to act like I'm fine. _For her sake,_ I tell myself. "This is nothing." I shrug as best I can with the crutches and my bag.

"It's not 'nothing'!" Lucy suddenly shouts. "You're hurt! Who did this?!"

"N-no one." I'm surprised at Lucy's sudden outburst and her voice bubbling with anger.

"Well you didn't do that to yourself," she says. "So who did?" Her voice is softer now, gentler. She's calmed down, her energy drained and her anger turning to sorrow.

I sigh. "It was Sting."

Her eyes widen. I see the gears turning in her head, but they get stuck every time they try to rotate three-hundred-sixty degrees. She can't figure something out. "What's gotten into him?" she mutters. I take it she didn't mean for me to hear. I stay quiet.

I know I should tell her about the past Sting and I share. How he's been bullying me for longer than she knows. She probably thinks it started recently. Oh, how wrong she is. It's been _years_. I've lived a painful life for _years._ Telling her, though, would only make her worry, and change nothing.

I'm startled out of my thoughts when a pair of gentle arms wrap around my torso carefully. I look slightly down, finding the top of Lucy's head. She's cautious not to squeeze too tightly because of my injuries, so she's barely touching me, but I feel a mix of emotions course through me. Confusion is one. _Why is she hugging me? What did I do to deserve this show of affection?_ I wonder. Another is warmth, happiness. I haven't been hugged since my dad died eight years ago, so this is truly something I must remember and cherish. Letting the crutch drop, I wrap an arm around Lucy's waist, deepening the hug a little.

We stand there, in each other's arms, for a good couple of minutes. I don't want it to end. Please, never end. I've missed 'love', even though I don't understand what it is anymore. Even just this small show of affection, of 'love', is enough to make the pain of it all, both physical and mental, disappear from my mind for the moment. This moment needs to last forever.

Sadly, it does not. Lucy slowly pulls away from me. I reluctantly release my hold on her. Why couldn't it last longer? Just a little longer, please…

Lucy clears her throat somewhat awkwardly. She's blushing from the moment we just shared. I feel a light flush on my cheeks, too.

"So, um…" she trails off, looking down to hide her red face.

I look anywhere but at her. "T-the reason you wanted to meet me?" I suggest.

She looks up, her blush receding. "Yeah, that," she confirms. "Come this way."

Giving her a wondering glance, I pick up my fallen crutch, adjust myself on them, and follow after her. She leads me a block away from the school building. Suddenly, she stops and turns to face me.

"Okay," she says, "you have to promise – no, swear - not to tell anyone."

"Tell them what?" I ask.

"Just promise!" she exclaims.

I raise my hands in the universal 'I surrender' pose. "Okay, okay. I promise."

"Good." She nods curtly. "Then come with me."

I follow after her a short distance more. When we step out of a back alley, my breath is taken away at the sight before us.

A gorgeous, black limousine is parked in the street in front of Lucy and I.

"Close your mouth before a fly gets in," Lucy says as she walks by me.

I close my mouth. I didn't even realize it was open.

I stand there like some dumbfounded idiot. This is probably what I am, minus the idiot. I make all A's; I'm no idiot.

Lucy turns back to me as the chauffeur steps out and opens the back door. "You coming?" she asks. When I don't reply, she gently pulls me to the limo, ushering me inside. I hobble in, making sure to not bump my injured foot on anything. It's easier than I think; the limo is clean. Lucy steps in after me. We sit across from each other.

I look around the big space with wide eyes. There are enough seats for at least eight people to sit comfortably, with cup holders next to each seat. DVD players sit in a neat stack on the floor, pinned down with some form of strap. I notice a mini snack compartment built under the seat next to mine.

"Is this yours?" I finally ask.

"Yeah," Lucy answers. "You won't tell anyone, right?"

My gaze rests on her. "I won't," I promise. "But why not?"

"My dad's kind of rich, and I don't want anyone to know yet. I want them to get to know and like me for me, not because I'm loaded," she confesses.

That makes sense. "Who's your dad?" I ask.

"Jude Heartfillia."

"You mean the owner of the biggest hospital in Magnolia? _That _Jude Heartfillia?"

"Yeah."

"Then what do you need me here for?" I wonder aloud.

"Isn't it obvious?" I shake my head no. "You're going to the hospital for those wounds."

This day just took an interesting turn.

* * *

**This is by far my favorite chapter. NaLu moment!**

**So, here's the thing: Winter row practice ends on Thursday, February 5th, and we get a week after that to rest before Spring season starts. Once spring season starts, I have Mondays back so I should be a little quicker on updating. Also, the week that we don't have row, I will try to update all my stories at least once. I probably won't update this Saturday, February 7th, though, because it's my b-day (turning thirteen! I'm finally gonna be a teenager!)!**

**READ THIS!: I'm putting a poll up on my profile for this story regarding a review I got from **artistofthemind **on chapter five. Feel free to vote.**

**I found the perfect song for Natsu to sing that will confirm Lucy's upcoming suspicions. First five people to review will be able to know the name and artist via PM before it's in the story.**

**Just a side note: at first I didn't have the whole Sting ordeal in this chapter, but then I decided that I wanted Gajeel to help Natsu, so I added it in. I had a hospital scene (not planned out per se, more like the gist of it) for this chapter, but then I decided to change it and make the hospital next chapter. Oh, there's gonna be some songs later on (like two or three chapters after this one). I've been dying to put more songs in! I have the perfect ones!**

**Don't forget to review!**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses:**

yamiyuga101- **At least he stopped bothering you... I hope your not still bullied.**

Azarathia- **Thanks! I looked up the songs, and they did fit with the poem. The poem kind of reminds me of Love of a Daughter by Demi Lavato.**

Kathrine Tanks- **Thanks so much! I might do that**

msc22645- **Thanks! I really wanted a weak Natsu story, and this just happened! XD**

ac135- **OMG! Thanks a bunch! Trust me, I don't swear much in the real world, only in fan fics and sometimes my head!**

FTBNOP-ALWAYS- **Thanks! I love knowing my readers feel something when they read my story, it tells me that I'm doing good so far.**

Risshu- **I love NaLu so much! I added in a NaLu moment not originally in there for you! And I agree with you, how can someone have such a cold heart that they can hurt their own child? It's just cruel.**

artistofthemind- **Maybe... *cackles evilly***

CyanFoxX- **Your review had me smiling all day! I love reading your wonderful reviews! They always make me so happy! Thanks so much for them! I feel special**

MikurisanScarlet- **Thanks! I thought the poem fit nicely too**

Lizzygirl423- **I hope the wait wasn't too long! I don't see many stories with Natsu as the weak nerd, so I decided to make my own. It's new to me too**

FlyingDoll4- **That's a good idea. I think I'll use it, giving you the credit for the idea, of course. That poem brought tears to my eyes :'(**

050300NALU (guest)- **LOL, I love cliffhangers *evil smile*. Basketball! *returns high five* So much fun! I'm interested in knowing more about your bowling. I'm also assuming your a girl since you said "girls bowling team" (please clarify this, I'm curious). You're better than me based off your scores, but I'm not that good cause of my low vision (that's where I thank Nintendo for Wii bowling). About the Lucy POV thing, there's gonna be a poll for my lovely viewers to vote on, so I don't know what I'm going to do yet. Thanks for reviewing!**

camacazi1- **Thanks so much!**

1Fanfanatick- **I feel like that's gonna happen, but I'm not sure yet**

Guest- **You're welcome! I like to respond to my reviewers because I feel really nice knowing a) I actually have reviewers and b) I replied to their wonderful comments. I feel mean when I don't reply.**

Anime4life25- **Thanks so much, and I hope I didn't disappoint!**

lunastarlight (guest)- **That would've been more ironic... and creepy. Thanks! I will!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Thanks to all you awesome people out there that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed! Like, holy shit! Over 100 reviews! You reviewers are the absolute BEST! I thank all of you so very much!**

**And thanks to everyone that voted on the poll! To all those that haven't, IT WILL CLOSE ON SUNDAY, MARCH 1st! So make sure you check it out!**

**Also, Natsu DOES NOT have his scarf. He will get it later.**

**Without further ado...**

**Here's chapter eight!**

* * *

"Natsu. Natsu, wake up." A hand nudges my shoulder gently.

I slowly open my eyes, looking around. I'm still in Lucy's limousine; my head rests against the window.

Lucy is lightly shaking my shoulder, making sure I'm up. Groggily, I turn to her. Why am I so sleepy?

"We're here," Lucy says softly.

I rub my eyes, trying to rid them of the traces of drowsiness. "Where is here, exactly?"

"The hospital," Lucy answers.

"And how did we get here?" I question. I don't remember any part of the car ride to this place.

She giggles slightly. "Mr. Capricorn brought us here." She gestures to the chauffeur, a tall, middle-aged man with already graying hair. "You fell asleep, though."

My eyes widen almost imperceptibly. I fell asleep? Me, someone that always has to be on-guard and alert, fell _asleep_? I mean, sure, I've grown to like Lucy. But trust, trust is another thing entirely. Yes, she's saved me from Sting, and yes, she introduced me to other people in hopes of getting me some friends, but does that mean I trust her? No. Not in the slightest. I don't easily trust anyone after my asshole-of-an-adopted-father tricked me, lied to me, and now hurts me both physically and mentally. And spiritually, too, I guess.

"You okay, Natsu? You look scared."

I'm pulled from my thoughts at Lucy's question. Damn it! I let my emotions show. That's something I've learned I can't afford to do, especially around bullies and Jiemma. It only causes them to hurt me more when I react; they enjoy my screams, my cries for help, and my pain. It sickens me. How can someone find happiness from another's pain?

I put my mask back on, my inner walls up. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

"If you say so," she murmurs. I guess by now she's learned I'm not going to give her any detailed answers.

We exit the limo, and Mr. Capricorn says to call him if we need a ride home before he leaves.

I stare up at the massive, eight-story building. It looks like most regular hospitals: tall, painted white and light gray, and smelling of sterile wipes and antiseptics. However, this hospital has a more cheery air to it than what I've felt before.

I've been in a hospital once; I had fractured my foot while playing tag with dad – my real dad – when I was around seven years old. I don't remember much from my visit there, only that I didn't care much for the place.

"You coming?" Lucy calls. She's already at the entrance to the building.

I hobble over to her on the crutches, stuttering a "Thanks" when she holds the door open for me to enter.

We step into the main waiting room. The place isn't too crowded; a few people roam here and there while others wait seated in chairs.

Lucy leads me to the front desk where a girl about my age sits typing at a computer. The pink haired lady looks up as we approach. Her nametag reads '_Aries'_.

"Hello, welcome to- oh Lucy-sama, how may I help you?" The girl stops her regular greeting when she sees Lucy.

"Hi, Aries," Lucy greets. "Is Porlyusica available?"

"Um…" Aries looks down at a clipboard lying on the desk. "Let's see….. She is not currently available. But when her current patient leaves, she will be open. I can get you in, if you want."

Lucy glances at me, almost asking me if that's okay, then turns back to Aries. "That'd be great, thanks."

Aries nods, writing something down on the same clipboard. "It'll be about a thirty minute wait," she informs us.

"Okay, thanks again," Lucy says. I nod my thanks.

"My pleasure. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Its fine," Lucy waves as we head to sit down in the waiting room chairs.

I plop down in one of the seats, mindful of my injured foot, and set the crutches down next to where I'm seated. Lucy sits in the seat next to me.

I lean back, closing my eyes. It feels good to just relax; I never get to, what with the threat of beatings from Jiemma and being bullied by the Raijinshuu and Sabertooth. Being able to just kick back and relax is something I rarely get to do, and even when I'm able to, I'm still on-guard and jumpy. One can never be truly at peace in the life I live.

Next to me, Lucy settles, shifting into a more comfortable position. It's silent for a bit, neither of us having anything to say. Lucy is the one to break the silence.

"Ne, Natsu?"

I open my eyes and turn my head to face her. "Yeah?"

She avoids my gaze, clearly nervous. "You never did answer my question," she finally says.

I give her a confused look. "What question?" I ask.

"You know," she starts. "The one I asked you after you sang at the 8-Island Café."

My confusion deepens.

She looks at me. "Why are your songs depressing? I mean, I see the messages the lyrics hold, but there seems to be something else hidden in them. Like a hidden emotion or something."

Now that I go back to that time, I realize that I didn't answer her question. I can't, though. No one can know, and I mean _no one_. It would only hurt them like it does me. I need to protect everyone from _him_, even if I don't know the person I'm protecting. I can't stand the thought of others being hurt like I am. It doesn't matter that I'm still scared of humans. They're my species; it's my instinct to protect them.

I take in a breath, collecting my thoughts. I don't know how to word what I want to say. "Well," I begin, "I've had some… experiences in the past. They inspired me to write those songs."

Her gaze softens at this information. It's a sympathetic look; she doesn't know what the 'experiences' are, but I see in the look she's giving me that she can tell they weren't good ones.

Sympathy, however, is not something I want. It's like pity, another thing I don't want. I've been dealing with the torture for _eight years_, I don't need the help. I don't want it anymore. Okay, scratch that. I want help. I would do about anything to get help. But what I'm trying to say is I want _help,_ not pity. Although, I guess I can't get it unless I tell someone about what Jiemma does. But I'm too scared to, so…

Anyway, while I've been stuck in my thoughts, Lucy has been talking. As I listen further, I realize she's only been muttering to herself, lost in her own thoughts much like I was.

She turns to say something to me, but a nurse comes out and calls "Ms. Heartfillia!"

"That's us," Lucy says. We rise, me much slower than Lucy, and we make our way over to the nurse.

She leads us down a hallway or two, up a couple floors in an elevator, and finally to room 342. We give her the information she asks for: name, age, medications I'm currently taking (none), and what I'm here for. She nods to us as she exits, leaving Lucy and I alone in the room.

We don't have to wait long before an older woman with pink hair tied in a high bun enters the room. She sits down in the doctor's chair and examines her clipboard.

"Greetings, Lucy-sama. So, Natsu," she says, her voice raspy and unfriendly. "You're here for a possibly broken ankle and nose, and pain in your chest." I nod confirmation. She looks down at her clipboard again. "Well then, I'll need to take some x-rays to confirm this."

I stiffen. I don't particularly like big machines. They're too enclosed, trapping you. It's bad for someone like me that's claustrophobic.

Lucy notices my tenseness and mouths 'its okay, I'm here,' to me. I relax a little at her unspoken words of encouragement.

"But before that," Dr. Porlyusica says, "I can see if your nose is broken. X-rays aren't needed to find that out."

I nod. She stands, moving closer to me. She lightly trails her pointer finger over my crooked nose.

"Hmm," she contemplates. "It is broken," she finally decides. Her hand leaves my face. "I can easily fix it now, if you want. It'll hurt though."

I think this over and come to the conclusion that the pain she's warning me of can't be any worse than what I already go through.

"Okay," I agree.

Before she fixes my nose, she tells me to swallow some pain-killer pills; she also gives me this gas that's supposed to help the person be numb to pain.

"Okay," she starts explaining while pulling on gloves, "this will hurt. A lot. But bare with me here. It'll be over soon." She hands me a box of tissues. "Use these for after I fix your nose."

With all the precautions and warnings, I'm starting go from nervous to scared. I look to Lucy, my face tinted the tiniest bit pink. "Can I hold your hand?"

"S-sure." She walks over to where I'm seated and stands next to me, holding out her hand. I take it.

"For this part, you might want to look away, Lucy-sama," Dr. Porlyusica warns. Lucy obliges.

I brace myself, squeezing my eyes shut tightly. "I'm ready."

Without another word, Dr. Porlyusica grabs my nose, which is bent at an unnatural angle. She then proceeds to twist her hand, pulling my nose with it and aligning it back in the right place. It makes a sickening crack when bone hits bone. I can't hold back the scream of pain that escapes my lips. Blood trickles from my nostrils; now I know what the tissues are for.

"Apply pressure to stop the bleeding," Dr. Porlyusica tells me. I press a tissue to my nose, wincing at the pain it brings to my already aching nose.

I don't realize my grip on Lucy's hand is too tight until she's telling me to loosen it.

"N-Natsu," Lucy whimpers. "Please loosen your grip."

My hand goes slack. "Sorry." My voice sounds higher because of the pressure I'm putting on my nose.

Once the bleeding stops, Dr. Porlyusica leads me to the room where the x-ray machines are. She has me lay down on a table, and she puts a cover over me so that the x-ray will only get the parts of my body she needs to see, namely my ankle and chest.

She then takes my x-ray.

After she's done getting what she needs, she leads me back to the room we were previously in, where Lucy is waiting for our return. I sit down on the patient's chair as Dr. Porlyusica leaves to go retrieve the x-ray pictures.

A short time later, Dr. Porlyusica returns, x-rays in hand. She hangs them up against a board that lights up to better see them. There are two in total: one of my ankle and one of my chest, which shows my ribs.

"You see this?" Dr. Porlyusica asks, pointing to a spot on my ankle that is cracked. "This shows that your ankle is, in fact, not broken." I sigh in relief. "However, it is fractured. I can realign the bones to help them heal faster, but you will need to wear an orthopedic boot so the bones stay in the right place to properly heal."

She proceeds to show me the boot I have to wear. It's stiff, to say the least, and gray in color. She shows me how to put it on and take it off, as well as how to use the little blue pump to increase and decrease the pressure inside the boot. It's pretty simple to understand. I put it on and do everything Dr. Porlyusica just showed me to show her that I can do it.

"And now for your ribs," she continues. She points at the x-ray of my chest, to a rib bone on my right. "This one here is broken, and so is this one." She points to another rib bone, this time on my left.

"They'll need surgery to fix. It should be done as soon as possible, too."

I look from Dr. Porlyusica to Lucy. I need this surgery, I know I do, but I can't afford it. Heck, I can't afford to 'rent' this boot, either. I just don't have enough money.

I look at the Doctor. "I don't have that kind of money," I confess.

Before Dr. Porlyusica can say anything, Lucy steps in: "It's okay. I'm paying for this visit."

"Okay then. I'll schedule you for ten minutes from now." With that, the Doctor leaves the room.

I round on Lucy. "You can't pay for all this! It's expensive!"

"You don't have the money to pay for it, though," she counters.

"I'd be fine even if I don't get the surgery."

"No you wouldn't!" she exclaims.

"Yes I would!" I yell.

"What makes you think that?!" She looks frustrated, exasperated.

I don't give my reply a second thought. It costs me. "Because I've done it before."

She looks at me. The pure horror I see in her chocolate brown eyes makes my chest clench painfully, and it's not because of my broken ribs.

"I mean-" I start, but Lucy cuts me off.

"Y-you've… done it before?" she whispers. "What do you mean by that?"

I turn away. "Nothing," I mutter.

"Natsu, what did you mean by that?"

"Nothing," I repeat in the same, quiet volume.

Lucy opens her mouth, most likely to ask again, when the door opens, effectively cutting her off. It's a nurse.

"Dr. Porlyusica is ready in the operating room," she says. We follow her out the door.

* * *

The surgery only takes an hour or two. I was put under anesthesia for it, so to me it only felt like a few minutes. I'm sore from the surgery, but it's a heck of a lot less painful than having the broken ribs.

Dr. Porlyusica gives me a bottle of pills, telling me when and how many to take. She also says I can have pain killers.

Lucy and I, still not talking to each other, are about to exit the room when Dr. Porlyusica stops us.

"Lucy-sama, Natsu, there's something I need to tell you," she says gravely. We turn to her. "The x-rays of Natsu show more than the fresh injuries. They show the older ones, too."

"Older ones?" Lucy questions. I, on the other hand, am freaking out internally. I didn't realize they'd be able to see all of my old, somewhat-healed injuries.

"Yes, older ones," Dr. Porlyusica confirms. She continues: "The x-rays showed multiple older injuries inflicted to Natsu's ribs. During the surgery, I examined them and fixed them as best I could. They will never heal properly, but they shouldn't cause too much trouble. If they do, you come back, you hear?" I nod, too worried to actually form any words. "Alright then, you may leave now."

Lucy and I leave, giving a quick "Thanks" to the Doctor.

To sum up what happened in the hospital, I am off crutches but limping heavily with the orthopedic boot, my nose will heal soon since the bones were realigned, and my ribs will also heal, but they'll take longer than my nose. Oh, and Lucy now knows about my multiple older rib injuries.

As we walk away from the hospital, I realize how late it is. The sky is already tinged pink with the sunset. I guess it was a stupid decision to tell Mr. Capricorn that we're walking home.

The minute the hospital is out of our view, Lucy turns on me. "Older injuries! What's that about?!" Her voice sounds angry, but I think it's just because of her concern for a friend. At least I think she considers me a friend.

"Um…" I stammer. "Like I said, I've been through experiences in the past." I hope that that's enough of an answer for Lucy, but I seriously doubt it.

Looks like I was right to doubt it. "Bullshit! I want more than that! What 'experiences' are you talking about?!"

I'm trapped. I can't get out of this one, no matter what I try. I really don't want to do this. I don't want to turn Lucy against her friend anymore than I already have, but she leaves me no other choice.

I sigh, a sign that I'm giving up. "I'm bullied," I confess. "And it's been going on for about eight years now." I don't look at her.

She falls silent. Then, "Eight years? That long?" I nod 'yes'. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I was scared." It's true, I was scared. I still am.

"Eight years… Isn't that how long you've been afraid of people?" she asks.

I nod; I'm amazed that she remembers that conversation.

There's a pause. "Who's bullying you?"

I knew this was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier. I don't want to turn her against her friend. But then again, the way he talked about her makes me sick. It makes the decision to tell her easier to choose.

I look even further away from her. "Sting."

She gasps disbelievingly. "No," she whispers. "No."

I nod. I expected this type of reaction from her.

She starts walking, lost in thought and disbelief, and I follow after her.

The walk home is silent, and I don't realize the tortures that await me at 'home'.

* * *

**Dun dun duuuunnn! Cliffhanger! Love 'em so much!**

**This chapter is almost 3,000 words (it got in the 2,900's)! I feel acclompished! I didn't mean for it to get that long (most chapters are between 2,000 and 2,500 words), but I have plans for the beginning of next chapter, and I had to finish the hospital part before it. At least it's a longer chapter for my lovely readers! :)**

**I'm so excited for the next chapter cause there's a song! I've been dying to put this song in this fic ever since I found it! Please read the lyrics (and listen to the song), they hold such great meaning in this fic.**

**Well then,**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses:**

FTBNOP-ALWAYS- **I felt those same emotions and then BAM! NALU made them all vanish! :D Thanks for the support!**

Anime4life25- **Thanks so much! Sorry about not PM-ing you recently for the thing (you know what I'm talking about), but I've been busy and then I got a review telling me to update.**

Circus Monster 2002- **Thanks so much! He does, doesn't he?**

(guest)- **Thanks! I try to update whenever I can**

Azarathia- **Thanks so much! You take care, too.**

MikurisanScarlet- **Thanks so much! Congrats on your first fan fic!**

artistofthemind- **She will... maybe**

050300NALU (guest)- **Thanks for reviewing! Girl power! Oh my gosh, that's amazing! I totally suck at splits... You have bowling teams? That sounds really cool. Where I live we don't have them (well, not that I know of). I'd love to hear more about your bowling. Thanks for wishing me a happy b-day. It was a fun yet painful day. I had a basket ball game and I swear the other team was out for blood. I came home with a (please excuse my language) big-ass floor burn on top of another big-ass floor burn on my knee, a floor burn so bad on my wrist it drew blood, my nose was hit with the ball while I was rebounding, and I was knocked to the floor like 4 to 6 times (the last time hurt like f*cking HELL; major migraine two days straight). And to top it off, the game ended in over-time tied 11 to 11. (In my recreational league, we do one over-time unless it's a tournament/championship game). It was still a really fun day though!**

CyanFoxX- **Thanks so much! *returns hug while chomping down on delicious cookies* I don't know what made me want Gajeel to do that, but I'm glad I put it in there.**

camacazi1- **I was thinking about the end of the Dragon King Festival/Grand Magic Games arc when I wrote the NaLu hug. *squeals* I just love them so much!**

yamiyugi101- **Thanks so much! I'm glad you're not still bullied**

lunastarlight (guest)- **Thank you so so much! I forget the song too, and stand there awkwardly trying to sing along XD Happy late birthday to you! Thanks for sending me the review saying it has been a week, I really appreciate it! It made me update sooner. I hope you liked this chapter. I tried to use your 'make the waiting room scene longer' idea, but I didn't want to make it too long. Also, the next chapter will explain why Natsu wasn't shocked by Jiemma in this chapter. Thanks again!**

Risshu- **I hope this filled your need!**

08- **I had those same reactions! I'm happy my writing is making my readers feel emotions! :)**

irondragonslayer61- **Thanks! You know, everyone is saying that about my age and writing (how I'm only 13 and (apparently) write well)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone! Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed!**

**Okay, so I know I said there's gonna be a song in this chapter, but... For some reason that didn't happen... Yeah... It's in the next chapter though!**

**WARNING: This chapter contains pain, abuse, depression, and other bad stuff!**

**You have been warned...**

**Here's chapter nine!**

* * *

Fear. Everyone has it, some more than others. Some fear drowning, others fire, heights, while yet more people fear the unknown, the future. Death. Most fear being alone, that one day they'll wake up and everyone they know and love will be gone, missing, disappeared. Vanished into thin air. I do not fear loneliness.

I live it.

What I do fear, is my father. No, not the wonderful, kind, caring Igneel Dragneel. I do not hold a shred of fear for him. I only hold love.

I fear the satanic man that adopted me. I fear his hands, raining blow after blow upon my already broken body. I fear his cruel nature, the type that gains pleasure from my pain.

I fear his favorite pastime: beating me to a bloody pulp, fighting for consciousness. I fear his tough build, the kind that can end my existence any day, any time he wants.

But I fear his eyes the most. Those evil-looking, almost pupil-less orbs that hold nothing but a desire, a cruel, cruel desire to rip me to shreds, to make me suffer. Those lust-filled, demonic eyes that shine when I'm tortured, when I'm in an unbearable amount of pain. The eyes that look at me like I am nothing, not even worthy of being called an insect. To him, I am less than nothing. I am merely a thing meant for pleasing him, for taking his hate-filled blows upon myself, and letting him rejoice in the sound of my blood curdling screams.

I fear the fact that even though I am a legal adult, I can't escape him. He won't let me. I will never be free, so long as I have the shock-chip in my arm, and he has the control to it.

I am not free.

I wish to be free.

But,

I will never be free.

I live a life full of fear. I tell no one of what happens because I don't want them to live with the same fear. I must stay alone, not free. For others' sake.

And as I walk through the front door to the place I call The House, I realize none of my fear for him has subdued. It has only grown, intensified.

For as I stand there in the doorway, my body shaking with uncontrolled fear, he glares down at me with those horrifying eyes of his, debating in his mind how to best torture me next.

My bag drops from my hand as his notably larger one takes hold of my neck, lifting me off the ground at least an inch. His devil-like eyes narrow, showing his rage, and his grip tightens. I gasp for air; it feels like my windpipe is being crushed.

Jiemma lifts his free hand – the one that's not currently holding me in a literal death-grip – pulls it back in a fist, and slams it against my abdomen. I would cry out, but his hold of my neck prevents anything other than small, pained wheezes from escaping my lips. He repeats this action over and over and over again.

Then, it stops. Just, _poof_, he's done, it's over.

Or so I thought.

As I drop to the floor as he releases his strangling hold, his knee connects with my chest, sending me flying into the closed front door. My back collides with the wooden surface of the entrance to the house, and I cough up a mouthful of blood. It trickles down my chin as I fall to the floor. The wooden surface stains red as my blood puddles on it.

Jiemma wastes no time in letting me recover. He kicks me anywhere and everywhere he can, an endless barrage of attacks. By now my eyes are glazed over and dull from the pain of it all. A well aimed kick to my face jolts me back to semi-consciousness, and I hear my newly fixed nose crack. I hope it isn't broken again.

Subconsciously, I pull my foot – the one with the orthopedic boot – behind me, out of Jiemma's line of sight. I don't want him to see it. He can't see it. He'd take it away, leaving my foot to heal on its own. I don't want to go through that again.

He doesn't seem to notice the action as he rams his fist into my right cheek, then my left, in a repetitive pattern. I already feel the bruises and swelling.

My eyes are shut tight, and my breathing quickens to shallow gasps as he pummels my chest with his feet and knees. I hear crunching and cracking as my repaired ribs shatter from each deadly blow. They come faster, harder, and I can't help it. I tear up, letting the streams of liquid flow freely down my face, and do the one thing I don't want to do.

I let out a blood curdling, pain-filled, and full-of-agony scream.

It rips through the air as Jiemma pauses in his assault. He steps back, smirking a triumphant smile, and just stares. The look is worse than horrifying; I can't form words to describe it.

Then, he leans down, making me tense, and grabs my salmon hair. He lifts me up by my locks, pulling me to a standing position. Well, it would be if my feet were touching the floor, and if my legs actually have the strength to hold me up.

He leans in. Then:

"Where have you been," he demands.

My mouth won't move.

He yanks my hair. "Don't make me repeat myself," he threatens. "We both know it's the last thing you want to do."

I swallow some blood, my throat dry. "O-out," I manage to croak in a weak voice.

He raises his light, bushy eyebrows, a sign that he's not pleased with my answer.

"L-library," I add. I know it's a lie, but I don't want to put Lucy in danger.

A drop of blood from my nose hits the floor, followed by a steady stream as my nose bleeds.

Jiemma doesn't move, nor does he speak. The silence is deafening.

"I told you last time," he starts, slowly, "that the next time you're late the punishment would be worse, did I not?"

I nod weakly.

He grins maliciously. "Well, then. I'll have to make sure I keep that promise."

My scream echoes through the neighborhood.

* * *

I wake up, dazed and confused, on the floor in front of the front door. I lie in a pool of blood. It's my own blood, deep and crimson. Slowly, I rise to a sitting position, mindful of my new injuries. Even just this small action hurts, and I hold back a scream.

I look down, observing my injuries in the dark of early morning. At least I have pretty good night-vision, or else I'd be completely helpless.

I check over myself, moving each joint and bone carefully to assess the damage. My nose hurts, but I don't think it's broken since it isn't bent funny like last time. The orthopedic boot protected my broken ankle, but Jiemma hadn't really been paying attention to my lower body. Hopefully I can walk.

I twist my upper body to grab the door knob as a way of helping myself stand, and I feel a sharp pain in my chest and stomach. I lurch back to my previous position, wincing in pain. My bruised hands pull up my shirt, exposing my midriff. Since it's dark, I can't make out much, but I do see dark spots, indicating bruises, and even darker spots and lines, most likely dried blood.

This is going to be one hell of a painful morning.

I rise to my feet, using the doorknob as support, at an excruciatingly sluggish pace. My feet slowly and silently shuffle, taking me to the downstairs bathroom. I lock the door once I enter and flick on the light.

A battered, bruised, swollen, broken, and dull teen stares back at me in the mirror. He's covered in dark purple-blue bruises, splattered with red cuts and slashes, and lumpy from swelling. But the worst thing is his eyes. The boy looking back at me in the mirror looks lifeless.

I look lifeless.

Like all my fight has left me. It's just gone, disintegrated into oblivion.

I lift my shaking fingers to my swollen, black-right-eye. It's dull. My eye, I mean. I look like a zombie.

A whimper leaves my lips as I stand there, just staring at my reflection. My hopeless, fight-less, lifeless reflection.

Do I really look like this? I look as if I was never even _alive_.

The tears are flowing before I even realize it. I don't stop them, I don't try to. Sometimes, especially with a life like mine, one needs to curl up and let it all out. For some that's through violence, drugs, drinking, for others it's through the love of someone else.

But for most it's through crying, weeping.

Alone.

Where no one can see you, find you. Where no one can hear you screaming, yelling out profanities about the shitty life you live. Where no one knows that you are capable of this, of sobbing until your tears run dry, until your voice is too hoarse to even speak, until your too shaken up to stand.

A place where no one will discover that you have a weak side which you hide from the world.

So that's what I do. I curl into myself, hugging my knees to my chest, ignoring the pain the movement brings, sobbing, weeping, and cursing. Usually I don't make such loud noise in the mornings, but today I can't help it. I have to let it out, to vent.

I don't know if I can keep my sanity if I don't.

After who knows how long of my lying there, letting all my pain and sorrow out through tears, I unsteadily rise to my feet, wobbling like a drunken man.

My eyes connect with the mirror me's eyes. Man, I look awful. Well, that's to say even worse than I did before.

Not only are my eyes dull and lifeless, they are now blood-shot red and puffy, too. Tear-stains are clearly visible on my swollen cheeks, standing out against my pale skin. A thin line of blood trickles from a spot where my chapped lips split.

Sighing, I turn on the faucet, running my hands through the cool water. I splash some on my face and rub vigorously to rid of the tear-stains, and then use the liquid to clean all my cuts and scratches.

_At least I'm not bleeding anywhere anymore, _I think as one particular cut above my right-eye stings at the water's touch. I wince.

I don't know how long I take in cleaning up what injuries I can, but when I exit the bathroom I decide to leave immediately. I don't want to risk another encounter with the devil incarnate.

Quietly, I slip through the back door, out of the house of horrors. I release a relieved breath.

I'm in a desperate need of comfort right now. I have no one to go to, though. There's only one person in the entire world that can lift my spirits, but he's no longer with us. Great, I just made myself even more depressed.

Not really paying attention, I find my feet have taken me to the park. It's deserted, but that's to be expected at this early hour; the sun isn't even peeking out yet.

I check the giant clock to find it's only five o'clock a.m. I have plenty of time until school starts. But I have nothing to do with that time.

Well, there is one thing.

I turn on my heels, heading in the direction that will take me to the cemetery, to my family. I think just being near them will help me.

I walk slowly, my hands shoved in the pockets of my dirty and blood-stained black hood-y, and begin to sing.

* * *

**I feel soooo evil for doing that to Natsu... But, for this fan fiction, I just feel like whenever something good happens to him, I have to somehow ruin it. I think I did that pretty well.**

**So, the song is actually next chapter. Please, please at least read the lyrics, and if you want, listen to the song. The song is beautiful, and the lyrics hold so much meaning to Natsu's life. I feel like the song describes his feelings perfectly.**

**Well then, sorry for being somewhat late in updating. My teachers decided to give us projects, so I was stressing over five different ones, plus the usual homework. Stupid school...**

**I WOULD LOVE ANY AND ALL REVIEWS! THEY ARE BETTER THAN CANDY FOR ME! PLEASE REVIEW, I LOVE THEM SOOOOO MUCH!**

**Ahem, not much else to say... Sooo**

**Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses:**

SpeedyMomentum- **Thanks again for reviewing!**

Lizzyg423- **LOL! I laughed sooo hard when I read that! "FUTURE WIFE" got me so good! XD**

FTBNOP-ALWAYS- **Ohhh, she will *evil glint in eye***

faithful2kh- **I'm so glad you like it!**

MikurisanScarlet- **Thanks so much! I'm soooo happy you love it!**

Guest (guest)- **LOL, that was good! I'm so thrilled you like it!**

Dark Shining Light- **Ikr, same here. Trust me, she won't :)**

Risshu- **Thanks! I'm glad I fulfilled your daily dosage!**

08- **Yep, I think something like that will happen... maybe soon. Thanks so much!**

camacazi1- **He will do that...**

FlyingDoll4- **It's fine! As long as you're enjoying my story! Yes, yes he really is.**

yamiyuga101- **Minerva will come in later, and you'll see her role then. I think it'll be a big role too.**

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lunastarligh (guest)- **It hasn't been a month yet! But sorry for making you wait!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone! It hasn't been too long, I hope. Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed!**

**The Author's Note at the bottom has the results of the poll.**

**The song in this chapter is **"Echo" **by **Jason Walker**. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND LISTENING TO IT WHILE READING THE LYRICS. This song is so very important to Natsu, please at least read the lyrics.**

**Here's chapter ten!**

* * *

My voice is soft, at a moderate pace as I begin to sing.

"_Hello, hello  
__Anybody out there? Cause I don't hear a sound  
__Alone, alone  
__I don't really know where the world is, but I miss it now"_

My voice picks up in volume for the chorus of the song.

"_I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name  
__Like a fool at the top of my lungs,  
__Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm alright  
__But it's never enough"_

Sadness fills my voice as it slows for the next verse.

"_Cause my echo, echo  
__Is the only voice coming back  
__Shadow, shadow  
__Is the only friend that I have"_

I pause in my singing as I enter the cemetery. I walk towards the hill my parents' graves rest on and, once there, continue in a somber and pleading tone, looking down at their grave stones.

"_Listen, listen  
__I would take a whisper if that's all you had to give  
__But it isn't, is it?  
__You could come and save me, and try to chase the crazy right out of my head"_

Desperation creeps into my voice as I raise it, and I look out over the edge of the hill with watering eyes.

"_I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name  
__Like a fool at the top of my lungs,  
__Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm alright  
__But it's never enough"_

My voice slows again, filled with a depression unlike any other, and I avert my gaze from the hill in favor of my parents' graves as I sit in-between them.

"_Cause my echo, echo  
__Is the only voice coming back  
__Shadow, shadow  
__Is the only friend that I have"_

Tears stream down from my eyes as I scream the next desperate verses out toward the hill.

"_I don't wanna be an island  
__I just wanna feel alive and  
__Get to see your face again_

_I don't wanna be an island  
__I just wanna feel alive and  
__Get to see your face again"_

I lower my voice so it can only be heard by me, and I slow down as my voice cracks.

"_But 'til then…  
__Just my echo… my shadow  
__You're my only friend and…"_

I rise abruptly and yell to the horizon:

"_I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name  
__Like a fool at the top of my lungs  
__Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm alright  
__But it's never enough"_

I drop to my knees, the fight gone, silent tears sliding down my cheeks, and softly sing the next lines to my parents.

"_Cause my echo, echo…  
__Oh, my shadow, shadow"_

I raise my head from looking down, and finish the song looking out over the hill at the town of Magnolia.

_ "Hello, hello  
__Anybody out there?"_

I drop my gaze to my hands resting on my knees. My tears drop silently onto my open palms as I continue to cry.

No matter what my 'friends' say, I'm alone. I always have been, and always will be. They may say they're my friends, but they're really not. I have no friends. I'm that loner, that kid in the back of the class no one knows, that no one bothers to know. Try as I might, I will forever be on my own, bullied, abused, and hopeless, with no chance of escape, of freedom. No one is here for me anymore.

_So why am I still alive? _I wonder.

A rustle in the bushes to my right breaks me away from my thoughts. I'm glad for it; it's a distraction from my miserable life.

My head swivels in the direction of the noise, and a figure steps out. In the darkness of early morning, I can't make out who it is.

Until they're standing by a light staked into the ground, that is.

And who stands there shocks me. Why are they, of all people, here, in a cemetery? Why is it always _her_?

Why is it always Lucy Heartfillia?

My eyes slightly widen—well, as much as they can, being swollen and all. This may sound selfish, but did she follow me? If so, why? What's the point of following a nobody?

The more I think about it, the more I realize that idea's crazy-talk.

She steps closer and bends down in front of me as I sit here, dumbfounded, on the dirty ground between my dad and my mom's graves.

"Natsu," she starts, slowly, softly, like I'm a fragile being that can break with the smallest of nudges, "it's okay. I'm here for you."

I look up into her warm, yet concerned, chocolate-brown eyes. My mouth moves, but no words form.

"There is somebody out there."

Her hand comes up to rest comfortingly on my shoulder. I don't shake it off even as it pushes down on a bruise.

I say nothing, only look down at my lap.

"Natsu…" Lucy looks really worried, and I feel bad in not replying. But I'm afraid the second I try to say something, I'll burst into tears.

"Come here," Lucy murmurs, as she places her right hand on the back of my head and her left around my back, pulling me close to her in a gentle, caring hug. Her hand strokes my hair softly in an oddly soothing way.

The action shocks me immensely. _So warm, _I think.

"Natsu?" Before I know it, I'm sobbing into Lucy's shoulder, getting her red V-neck wet with my tears. "You okay? What's wrong? Natsu?"

A choked sob is her only answer.

I've never done this before, letting my bottled-up emotions out to another human being. It's weird, unfamiliar. Yet, at the same time, it's comforting, it feels good. It's a total stress-reliever.

But it's also something I can't afford to do.

Because crying leads to worry. And worry leads to questions. Questions then lead to answers said or unsaid. This leads to conflict and more worry, which leads to more questions, thus the cycle repeats itself. I can't have this happen often. But…

Maybe, just _maybe_, this one time is okay.

My grip on her shirt tightens as I continue to bawl. Lucy keeps stroking my hair in an attempt to help me calm down. After so many years, though, it doesn't do much to help. It'll take a lot more than a couple pats on the head for me to get over my grief and trauma.

"Shhh," Lucy coos. "It's okay. Let it out. I'm here, I'm here."

I can tell by the tone of her voice she doesn't have the slightest clue as to why I'm weeping into her shoulder. But I can also tell that she's genuinely worried about me and wants to do anything and everything she can to help. I'm grateful to her.

She's the only person in eight years to even try.

Once my sobs cease, my breaths slow, and my body's shaking is more controlled, I breathe in and out slowly, carefully, as if going too fast will break my barriers even further and I'll start all over again. I inhale and exhale deeply, then begin to breathe normally. I close my eyes, gathering my thoughts, bottling up my emotions again, hiding my feelings. My eyes open, and I pull away from Lucy without a sound.

She sits in front of me, our bent knees less than an inch away from touching, so close that I can feel her body heat.

Her hand raises, stops mid-air, and returns to her lap. An action that shows she's not sure what to do. She settles with: "Natsu?"

Not wanting to talk about the previous events, I say, "W-what are you d-doing here?" I look anywhere but directly into her eyes.

She turns her head to the right. "Visiting Mom."

Following her gaze, I see a lone tombstone a couple yards from my parents'. _So she knows the pain of losing a loved one, too_, I think.

A soft "Oh" is all I manage.

Sudden realization hits me like a sucker punch to the jaw. With how close Lucy's mom's grave is to my parents', she probably heard my song—my incredibly personal song. I feel my face flush slightly.

Her eyes land on mine. "What about you?" she asks.

I look from my right — my dad's grave — to my left — my mom's. "Seeing my parents," I reply.

Lucy turns her head in both directions. "Both?"

"…Y-yeah."

I see pity enter her eyes. It enrages me. Why pity someone? It doesn't help anyone. It doesn't change anything. It only makes the one being pitied feel weak, useless, like a burden to others. Pity is our downfall.

"So," she starts, almost uncertainly, "what about that song you were singing?"

Uh-oh, she heard it. "W-what about it?"

"Well, you know," she stumbles to find the right words. "Is it just some song you made up?" She pauses, hesitating in continuing, but does anyway:

"Or is it something more… personal?"

I don't know how to respond to that. How can I? What should I say? I mean, I can't tell her that it is personal. It would put her in danger! The next move I make probably isn't the smartest one, but I can't bring myself to lie to her or to tell her the truth.

I pull my coat's hood—torn, dirty, and bloody as it is—over my head to hide my face.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Through my salmon bangs, I see Lucy's somewhat frustrated and very anxious face. She lets out a sigh before reaching her petite hands out. They carefully pull the hood from my head just as the sun begins to rise. The sun's rays shine on Lucy, illuminating her golden hair, making her eyes shine brighter. But with the rising of the sun, her features grow more worried, tense, and confused. I hear her gasp.

She brings her hands up from my hood – which is now resting on my back – to tenderly cup my cheeks. I lean into her soft, warm touch, and close my eyes for a bit.

"Natsu…" At the amount of anguish in her voice, I open my onyx eyes to look into her chocolate orbs. "What happened?" It comes out as a distressed whisper.

It's now that I realize the sun is making all my injuries visible. She can see them clear as day.

When I don't answer, she asks, still in a whisper, "Was it Sting?"

I shake my head 'no'. "It wasn't him."

"Then—"

"It was no one, okay? It doesn't matter," I say defensively, trying to steer the topic of conversation away from my horrendous wounds.

She looks at me, mad for some reason. "It does matter!" she all but shrieks. "You can't have done this to yourself! Stop saying things like that!"

"Lucy…" _I don't understand_, I think, _why is she getting riled up about something that happened to someone that doesn't even fully consider her a friend?_

"You need to stop acting like this," she continues, her voice firm. She stands. "It's the reason you have no friends. Who would want to trust someone that keeps secrets all the time?"

I rise too, glaring straight into her eyes with a hard expression. "That's right, who would? Why do you care so much? What's the point of this? If you really believe what you just said, you'll leave me alone." _Just like everyone else_, I add to myself.

The split second before I turn away from her, I catch a glimpse of her expression: hurt, confusion, frustration, betrayal. I don't miss the slight waver in her lips, the tremble in her hands, the extra shine in her eyes as the sun reflects off her gathering tears. It pains me to see her – to see _anyone_ – like this, but I can't ponder on it at the moment.

I stalk off, my hands shoved roughly in my hoodie's pockets, my steps slow and uneven.

_I should apologize._

_Turn around, say you're sorry._

_She's the only one you have._

No, I won't. I won't turn around, won't apologize. I've been going through life without someone there for me for _eight years_; I can survive on my own just fine.

_But what if I can't? What if, one day, it all becomes too much and I snap?_

When that day comes, maybe I will finally be free.

_Maybe freedom is closer than I think._

I shake my head, trying to rid it of the thoughts sure to come. I can't think like this. It's not the answer. It can't be.

_Death is not the answer._

But the more I think about it, the more I start to believe it is. Maybe I should just end my misery. Maybe things will be better that way. Maybe I'll get to finally meet Mom. Maybe I'll get to see Dad again.

I'm leaning more and more towards 'the answer' with every step I take.

"Natsu!" Lucy's call drags me from my dark mind, and I halt my steps, but don't turn around.

I hear her pounding feet stop a little ways behind me. She catches her breath.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes. "Whatever I did, whatever I said, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

I still don't look her way. "Well, you said it. It's done."

"Natsu… I'm so sorry."

I ignore her. "But, you know," I chuckle humorlessly, "you do have a point."

"Wha—"

"Who would trust someone like me? I hold secrets, many secrets, secrets I intend to keep." I turn to face her, my gaze and expression hard, almost scolding. "I hold secrets you couldn't even begin to understand."

I feel like I've said too much, like I've revealed too much about myself. But I can't stop, now that I've started, now that I'm angry.

"Na—"

"So just leave it be, okay? Stop butting into my business like we're friends."

The hurt in her eyes, in her tight jaw-line, is impossible to miss.

"… Okay," she says after a while. "I'll drop it."

The way she says it, the way her hands fidget at her sides, the way she doesn't look me in the eyes says it all.

She's only dropping it for now, most likely just this once.

"Good." I turn to leave again, but a hand on my arm stops me.

My head turns so I'm looking over my shoulder. Lucy holds my lower arm in her hand, her head bowed so her bangs hide her eyes.

"Come with me," she says. It's not a question, but it's not a demand either.

I gaze at her inquisitively. "Why?" I ask.

She looks up, her eyes almost pleading. "Just come. You'll see when we get there."

My eyebrows furrow, but I nod a quick and stiff 'yes'. "Okay."

She leads me out of the cemetery with hurried steps. Whatever it is she wants, she wants to do it soon.

Nervousness starts to creep into my stomach. What _does _she want? Usually after someone explodes like I just did, you'd want to keep your distance for a day or two. _So what is she up to?_ I come up with many possibilities, all of which she would never do—I hope. I can't think of many positive reasons as to why she's half-dragging me down a sidewalk this early in the morning, so I let my mind go blank. All the thinking's making my head hurt.

Before I know it, we're standing in front of an apartment building. I look up at the four-story building, my mouth open in awe of the simple yet beautiful designs on the exterior. Not to mention the gorgeous flowers surrounding the perimeter.

Without a word, Lucy walks inside, pulling me along by our joint hands.

We climb up three flights of stairs and come to the third floor. She walks down the hallway, to the fifth door, and unlocks it with a key she fished out of her pocket. The door opens with a barely audible groan, and I follow Lucy inside. She shuts the door behind us.

"Sit," she says, pointing to a comfy-looking armchair in the corner of the room. I oblige, relishing in the plush and softness of the furniture. It's been so long since I sat in something so cozy.

I look around the room as Lucy enters a different one—the bathroom, it looks like. This seems to be a living room area, what with the two-seater couch, small coffee table, TV, and the chair I currently occupy. Then there's the door Lucy entered, and another door on the wall adjacent to that one. _Lucy's room_, I mentally guess.

I sigh, closing my eyes, relaxing for the first time in years. I feel content here, almost safe. There's a reassuring atmosphere here, in Lucy's apartment, that I've never felt anywhere else since my adoption. It's nice, and warm, and most of all it is _secure. _I feel protected here, like nothing can harm me, like nothing can even _touch _me.

My tense muscles go slack.

Eyelids heavy, I almost drift off to sleep. But before that can happen, Lucy reappears in front of me, her arms filled with first-aid supplies. She squats, dropping everything to the floor, and grabs a bottle of something. I open my mouth to ask what she's doing, but she shushes me with one finger to my lips. Then, she wipes a liquid on a cut on my face.

It stings.

But I don't even flinch as I watch her place a band-aid over the nasty cut and move on to the next one.

I sit in silence, watching Lucy as she thoroughly checks me for cuts, scrapes, bruises and the like, humming as she does so. Each swipe of the antiseptic liquid over an open wound stings, but I don't voice a complaint; this is nothing compared to last night.

I don't know how long it takes—an hour? Maybe more—but when Lucy starts putting everything away, I snap out of whatever trance I was in.

"L-Lucy?" I stutter.

She continues packing up, not looking at me as she replies. "Yes?"

"Um, you know….." _Oh shit, I have no idea how to word my question. _"Uh, I—what—why—"

Now she looks up. And she giggles. She _giggles_. One hand covering her mouth, she _giggles_.

It's a sweet sound, one I want to hear again.

"I just cleaned and bandaged your cuts and such, is all."

I look at her questioningly. "But… why?"

She smiles softly, her lips closed, but the sincerity clearly visible. "It's what friends do."

_Friends…_ I'm hearing that word a lot more lately. I don't know what to think of it. People call others their friends all the time, but are just using them for their own selfish reasons. Is that what friends are? I always thought friends are people that have your back, support you, help you, pick you up when you fall down. People that love you for you, don't try to change who you are. Lucy calls me her friend. She helps me, cares for me, bandages me, worries about me. She does everything a true friend would, and doesn't ever ask for anything in return.

Lucy's my friend, right? Can I call her that? Can I honestly say I have a friend?

Seeing her expression—happy, caring, protective, concerned—I finally, after all this time, realize it.

Lucy Heartfillia is my friend.

I gaze at her cocoa eyes with my charcoal ones.

"Yes," I say. "Friends."

The word feels foreign on my tongue.

She smiles that wide, closed-lipped smile of hers, her eyes so soft and warm, so caring and loving. Her hand places itself on the back of my head, and she pulls me closer so our foreheads are touching, resting against each other's. She looks up to return my gaze.

"Friends?" I ask, the word sounding alien to me.

"Always." And she plants a gentle kiss on my nose.

* * *

**My thoughts on this chapter? Honestly, I'm damn proud of it. It's longer by about 1,000 words than other chapters, for one. And its got NaLu!**

**Anyway, the results of the poll... Having one or two chapters out of Lucy's POV won. So, I'll put up another poll (soon, hopefully) to decide which chapter(s) will be selected.**

**To all those that wanted a separate story**

**Truthfully, I like the idea of that, and will most likely write it. It'll be after **My Savior **ends, though, so I don't know how long the wait will be. It will probably be titled **Saving Him**, so keep an eye out for it when this story ends.**

**IF YOU READ THE FAIRY TAIL MANGA, READ THIS: I was watching the newest episode of the anime, and at the end there was a preview to the next episode, and it looks like the next episode has the Tartos Arc in it! It's finally here (I think)! The episode title for the previewed episode made it sound like the beginning of a new arc, and the tree-guy was there! I so hope it's the Tartaros Arc! Is anyone else not emotionally prepared for it, yet still excited as fu*k?**

**Ahem... well then,**

**Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses:**

MikurisanScarlet- **Thanks so much for reviewing! I kind of have considered it, but I don't know yet...**

ceceplayz- **Thanks! And she will, in time, find out. You'll have to wait and see on the other question though.**

FTBNOP-ALWAYS-** For the last chapter and this one, it's dark out. But when he goes to school, it's just heartless bastards that don't seem to care (;-;). I feel mean, doing this to poor Natsu...**

383BooksFictionally- **Thanks so much! I'm not sure about meeting Jiemma (she might, I don't know yet).**

Lizzyg423- **Thanks! I feel bad for Natsu... But I'm the one putting him through this... My thoughts are conflicted...**

yamiyugi101- **I hope happier things happen too... That's an interesting idea, I'll think about it :)**

SpeedyMomentum- **I'll try to add them in in later chapters, I promise! I'll keep them in mind while writing and let my plot bunny go wild XD**

Kawaii-Potato111 (guest)- **Lol! I'm so glad you like it! And thanks for supporting me til the end!**

CyanFoxX- **I honestly felt really, really happy at getting a reaction like that :) Thanks! Lucy met up with him; I hope it satisfied you.**

camacazi1- **Yep, Minerva's coming in. *evil glint in eye* But who said anything about _Natsu_ being tortured more...? Heeheehee**

08- **Thanks for reviewing! To answer your question: Natsu's scared, he doesn't trust people, so he doesn't want to let anyone in. But he also wants to protect others, so he's afraid that telling someone will put them in danger. Yes, it would be easier, but he doesn't want anyone to get hurt; he wants to be a sort of shield. I'll try to bring in the usual clique soon.**

kkmuscha- **Thanks so much! Hopefully the wait wasn't too long.**

lunastarlight (guest)- **I know right?! Teachers don't realize we don't have the time for projects... Man, school work sucks. Lol, you're reaction to my last chapter had me laughing.**

GRUgrace- **Yay! I got a reaction! Thanks for reviewing!**

ImmaVegeta (guest)- **Thank you! I hope you like this chapter!**

OTAKU4EVER (guest)- **Jiemma deserves that. He really does. Thanks for reviewing!**

IlluminatiLeaderTati- **Thanks so much!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone! I am so, so, so sorry for taking so long to update. Please don't hate me! I hope this longer-ish (3,602 words) chapter will help make up for it. Again, I'm am so sorry!**

**Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed!**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

**Here's chapter 11!**

* * *

By the time Lucy and I arrive to school—late, by the way—third period is almost over.

After the events this morning, I don't know how to think of Lucy. She's my friend, right? But do friends kiss friends on the nose? I wouldn't know.

Anyway, nothing besides that is different between us. We still act the same around each other, albeit we haven't talked much since then.

I sigh, feeling overwhelmed and tired by it all. It's all just too much. Dealing with Jiemma, my injuries, my emotions, and now figuring friends out. It's just too much.

But I admit I do like having friends. My world seems a little less… lonely now. I'm not alone, and that thrills me. But it's also terrifying.

It's terrifying to have someone there for you after being on your own for so long. Although, I think I can get over this fear because having a friend is better than being on my own.

"I'll see you at lunch?" Lucy asks, effectively pulling me from my thoughts.

I turn my head slightly so I can see her out of my left eye. "Sure," I agree, somewhat tentatively.

She smiles and waves as she parts ways, heading for her locker as I head to mine.

I hobble down the hallway on the crutches I'm still using. _I'll have to do something for the storeowner that let me borrow them_, I say to myself. Only problem is, I have no idea how to repay him.

The _clack, clack_ of the crutches on the floor is the only sound in the empty corridor.

I suddenly grow wary; it's too eerily silent.

Nevertheless, I make it safely to my locker and deposit my things not-so-neatly inside. I toss a small bag I borrowed from Lucy over my shoulders and flinch when the binder and book inside bump against my back.

I dig into my pants pocket, smiling slightly at the sight of three crumpled one dollar bills. At least I can get something for lunch.

Turning, I wobble down the hall as the bell rings. Students begin streaming out the classrooms to either side of me, making me hurry to the side so as to not get trampled.

Just then I feel a gaze on me, like someone is watching.

Waiting.

I begin to turn my head, but a hand places itself on my shoulder, stopping the movement.

I don't dare to look up.

By now my body is trembling, and the person the hand is connected to seems to notice, for the hand relaxes itself.

I build up the nerve and glance upwards.

"It's okay," Gray Fullbuster says. "It's just me. Don't turn around; it's Sabertooth that's watching us."

I give an almost imperceptible nod to show I understand.

Slowly, he removes his hand from my shoulder, but he walks close to me. There is just enough space between us that our shoulders do not touch but his body heat warms my arm. Gray strides tall and proud next to me, a huge contrast to my small frame. Anyone that looks our way with a patronizing look is met with a deadly, protective glare from my companion.

It's as if he is daring anyone to challenge him.

And someone does.

Sting struts towards us, an obnoxious skip in his step, followed by his lackeys. He moves in, a predator stalking his prey.

Gray is too preoccupied with Orga and Rufus to notice Sting's presence. And it is then that I notice Gray is farther away from me; I can't reach him with my arm anymore.

Sting approaches, a murderous look on his face. Rogue tails behind him, looking all too pleased by something. He smirks at me, a devilish look in his crimson-red eyes. Sting's royal blue orbs are ten times worse.

I do not know what is going to happen, what Sabertooth has in store for me, but I can tell it is far from anything good. I stop moving, cowering slightly behind the crutches that I hope will provide some form of defense.

My hopes are in vain.

Sting roughly takes hold of my right crutch, removing it from my grasp. I balance on my other crutch, abruptly throwing all my weight to it and my left arm. I shut my eyes tight, not wanting to see what happens next, and wait for the inevitable blow.

But it never comes.

"What the _hell're _you doin'," a gravelly voice demands.

"Playing," Sting replies, a dangerous tone to his voice.

"This doesn't look like much fun to me," says a cold, rage-filled voice. It belongs to a girl.

Rogue speaks up. "Oh, but it is."

The tension increases to almost unbearable amounts. I open my eyes.

"You give him back his crutch and leave now, or else . . ." Loke trails off, leaving the threat hanging heavily in the air.

Gajeel is in front of Sting in the blink of an eye, holding him by the shirt. His eyes say more than words ever could.

Sting doesn't waver.

"You don't really think you have a chance against all of us, do you?"Erza asks, gesturing to Gajeel who still holds Sting, Loke who is prepared to strike, and Jellal, Gray, and Bacchus, the three of which hold off Orga and Rufus. Lisanna, Levy, Juvia, and Cana stand off to the side, ready to join in if the need arises.

"Tch." Sting looks at his opponents, realizing he is badly out numbered. "Fine. We'll leave."

Gajeel lets go of Sting's shirt, rips the crutch from his hand, and shoves him away. The rest of Sabertooth gather around their leader, and they walk away, cursing and glaring.

I take the crutch Gajeel silently offers me. Once I'm done readjusting, I look up.

All eyes are on me.

I shrink under their gazes before remembering that these are the people that just saved me. I should not be afraid of them. They won't hurt me. At least, I think they won't.

I meet all of their eyes. "Thank you," I say, surprising myself at how even my voice is.

They sigh simultaneously, a breath of relief.

"No problem," Gray responds, a small smile gracing his lips.

"It's what friends do," Erza adds in, her brown eyes caring. Jellal nods agreement.

Lisanna walks closer to me. "Are you okay?" she asks, concerned, her hand hovering in the air as if she wants to touch me.

"Yeah." I smile. "Thanks."

Just then my stomach growls. I laugh sheepishly.

Gajeel chuckles deeply, and Juvia giggles next to a grinning Cana.

"Come on," Levy chirps, "Lu-chan is probably waiting for us. We should head to lunch."

"Yeah," Gajeel agrees, "before we have no time to eat."

With smiles on our faces, we head to the cafeteria, talking about light topics on the way.

* * *

After we grab our lunch, we sit down at a table. Everyone says it's their usual table. It kind of makes me feel like an outsider.

I wobble over, carefully balancing my tray in my hand, and sit down next to Lucy. She waves to me in greeting, but goes back to her conversation with Levy and Lisanna about who-knows-what.

Like last time, Gray sits across from me. He eats his food with a conflicted look on his face. I think he's trying to figure what to say. Gajeel, like always, looks bored as he sips his drink next to Gray.

Loke plops down next to me, sighing loudly, and breaks the tension. "Did you guys get that physics project yet? It's horrible!"

"No," Gray replies. "Not yet."

And next thing I know, they're complaining about how horrible physics is and how they "don't want to do the damn project."

Me? I don't mind physics. I don't see why they're complaining and bitching and moaning about it; it's not _that _bad.

As I try my hardest to tune out the two teens' whining, Gajeel looks up from his food and glares. He doesn't just glare. No. He gives them _the _glare. The glare that says 'I'm so going to kick your ass if you don't _shut up_.'

So they do the smart thing. They shut their mouths.

And Gajeel goes back to eating as if nothing happened.

I stifle a chuckle, amazed and amused at how quickly one guy can make two chatterboxes be quiet.

Then everyone's looking at me, incredulous looks on their faces. They seem kind of shocked. But . . . why?

"Did he just . . .?" Loke starts, but trails off, unable to finish voicing his question.

Gray smiles. "I think he just did."

I look at them quizzically. What are they talking about?

"Huh?" I say intelligently.

Gray and Loke share a look, and Gajeel once again looks up from his food. He picks up his drink and takes a swig, finishing off the last of it. Setting it down, Gajeel looks at the two other guys, realizes they aren't going to say anything, and explains.

"You chuckled."

Did I? I guess I did. I can't remember the last time I chuckled; it's been so long. But why didn't I notice that I did? Shouldn't it have felt weird or something?

Looking down, I mutter, "Y-yeah, I guess I did."

"And that's a good thing!" Gray quickly says, probably sensing my conflicted thoughts or something. He laughs nervously.

Gajeel rolls his eyes and goes back to his food, and Loke looks at him helplessly.

I let a small smile form on my lips, trying to ease Gray's worries. It works; Gray sighs in relief and shoves a forkful of food in his mouth. Loke starts idle chatter again, but I sit out.

I am more interested in the girls' conversation.

"—needed something from me," Lucy is saying. "So I stayed behind and talked to him, but it wasn't anything important."

Cana raises an eyebrow. "What _did _Laxus want with you, though?"

Laxus? Is he the reason Lucy wasn't with everyone else when they stopped Sting?

Lucy sighs tiredly. "Let's talk about this somewhere more private later."

The girls nod, understanding something I don't. Is it something personal? Or can Lucy not say it in front of someone here?

But, moving on, this gets me thinking. If Laxus held Lucy back after class, and Sting just so happened to try to pick on me, does that mean they're connected? Was Laxus a diversion to distract Lucy—the only person to save me so far, besides Gajeel, at that time—so that Sting and his goons could beat me up?

Are the Raijinshuu and Sabertooth working together?

A cold sweat breaks out on the back of my neck just thinking about it. If they are, I am in a lot of danger. Separate, they both are forces to be reckoned with. But together . . . together I don't even want to imagine what they could do. It terrifies me.

Suddenly my measly lunch isn't so appetizing anymore.

I rise from my seat without a word, drawing the attention of everyone, and walk away on my crutches, my tray in my hand and my bag on my back.

On the way out of the cafeteria, I drop my lunch into the garbage. Then I head to the one place I know I am safe in: the library.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the smartest idea to go off on my own through the deserted hallways. But I mean, come on, I just figured out the scariest thing since Jiemma adopted me, and I want some alone time.

Too bad I don't get it.

I know what you're probably thinking: it's Lucy, come to save the day again.

Well guess what. _You're wrong_.

It's not Lucy or even Gray that ruins my much needed thinking alone time. Oh, no. It's none other than Sting Eucliffe, in all his bastardly glory, that does.

He struts up to me and literally looks down on me.

"Well, well, well," he sneers. "Look who came back for more." He cracks his knuckles threateningly.

Don't you just love him?

I glare up at him, my eyes challenging, and hold his gaze. I don't know why I'm being so brave all of a sudden. Maybe I'm just tired of being the weak, cowardly Natsu. Who knows? Either way, it was really not smart of me to do that, for the next thing I know, I'm on the ground bent over from a punch to the gut.

Does he seriously enjoy hurting people on crutches? Gosh, what a jerk.

I cough, rub some blood from my mouth, and start to rise. However, I am knocked back down with swift kick to my chest. My breath is forced out of me, leaving me winded, and I lay on the floor, gasping for air.

Sting stands over me, his figure tall, straight, and arrogant. He gives me this . . . _horrifying_ smile. I shudder and tremble in fear. His bloodthirsty, hungry look is too familiar, and it doesn't help that his canine teeth are slightly more pointed and sharp than normal. His eyes are so hard, so _cold_, that I can't help but shake in terror.

_He looks too much like Jiemma._

Sting is saying something, but a ringing in my ears blocks it out. And that's when I notice it.

Somehow, in that instant, I become hyperaware of my surroundings. I can smell the cafeteria food; see everything that could possibly help me; and, somehow, I just _know_ where everything is.

It is this that saves me from an attack that would have killed me.

And, not really knowing how, I am suddenly on my feet—_without the crutches_. I see everything I do, every defensive move I make, but I am not fully aware of my body moving, of my body doing what it is. I don't feel it as I duck and swivel and seemingly glide past Sting's punches and kicks, nor do I feel it when I use my own arm to block an attack.

I jump, avoiding a low kick that would have tripped me, and the next thing I know my knee is connecting with Sting's face. He falls back, a thin trail of blood leading from his nose down his chin, and groans.

Unfortunately, though, I am not very skilled in making attacks strong, seeing as I am always on the defensive side, so kneeing him didn't do much.

As he rises from his spot on the floor, I turn on my heel and make a break for it. Hey, what else can I do? It's not like I actually have a chance against him.

Surprisingly, I can still run even with the orthopedic boot on. I guess I'm pretty healed already. But I always did heal faster than normal.

I sprint down the hallway, cut a sharp corner, dodge a person or two, and almost run face-first into the library's double doors. Chancing a glance behind me, and seeing Sting steadily advancing, I push open the door and slip inside.

As quietly yet quickly as I can, I speed-walk through aisle after aisle, trying to get Sting off my trail. I turn left into the deserted reading corner and squat down behind a chair.

I try my best to muffle my heavy breathing while I await Sting's imminent arrival. My breathing has just softened enough when I see his dark shoes through a bookcase. He's being sneaky, looking everywhere, and I duck further in my hiding spot.

Sting exits the aisle and turns toward the reading corner. I hold my breath as he approaches and inspects the place. I know he will find me.

He always does.

But then a miracle happens. I watch cautiously as another pair of shoes meets Sting's. They are not the normal teenager-type shoes; they belong to the librarian.

"Is there anything I can help you with, young man?" Ms. Babasaama says.

Now, I have already met her. Ooba Babasaama is the school's librarian. She's a nice, fun lady that likes for everyone to have a good time. But when it comes to her library, she's as protective as a mother is to her child. If someone misbehaves—is too loud, breaks a book, etc.—she doesn't send them to the assistant principal or something. No, she punishes them herself. And her punishments, from what I have seen, are not pleasant ones. You never want to be on the receiving end of one.

With how many times I come to the library, I had really no choice but to tell her I come here to avoid bullies like Sabertooth and the Raijinshuu. In other words, she knows about how they bully me. I never told her any specifics, and I asked her to not make it a big deal, so she hasn't done anything about it.

But she knows about Sting, and she does not look happy to see him here.

So it's kind of fun to watch their first meeting.

"Looking for someone," Sting replies coolly.

Ms. Babasaama raises an eyebrow. "For who, might I ask?"

"A . . . friend," Sting answers vaguely, looking like he almost gagged on the last word.

It's clear to Ms. Babasaama that he is lying, and I watch with amusement as she starts to talk:

"Well, no matter your reasons, I must tell you this: it is not, under any circumstances, acceptable to run in the library and cause a commotion. Therefore, since you have done just this, you will be seeing me today for afterschool detention, where you will do as I say, when I say it, and with absolutely no complaints. You complain once and I'll make you spin!"

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention she has this . . . thing where she threatens to make people spin. I've never seen her do it, though, so I think it's just something to do with her old age (she's probably seventy years or older).

Sting just stands there, stuttering and with an exasperated and shocked look on his face. I hold back a snicker.

"But—" he starts.

"No buts," my favorite librarian interrupts. Okay, so she's the only librarian I know, but you know what I mean. "Rules are rules, and you have broken those rules." She turns around, walking away. Over her shoulder, she calls, "I'll see you at the end of the day, Mr. Eucliffe."

I continue to watch as Sting mutters and curses a string of profanities under his breath. He uses some really colorful words, too, and I can't help but think, 'You kiss your mother with that mouth?'

He stalks off, forgetting about catching me in favor of calling Ms. Babasaama some really awful words. Then he exits the library, my safe haven, and I am able to stand up and stretch. It feels good to not be under any danger.

I walk over to my friend Ooba, and when she looks up I say, "Thank you."

She smiles a granny kind of smile. "It's my pleasure, dear. Next time he tries to hurt you, you just come on right in here, and I'll personally take care of him."

"Thanks, I will." I smile along with her, knowing she means she'll give him detention again, not do anything creepy.

Just then the bell rings, and I am saying good-bye to her as I hurry out the door. I retrace my steps, find my bag and crutches off to the side, and head to my next class. But now I'm carrying the crutches, not using them. I'll have to return them later.

* * *

I avoid my friends all day, not wanting to have to explain why I suddenly left lunch today. I quickly grab my things from my locker and exit the school. Instead of going home, though, I head towards a different direction. I think it's high time I gave the crutches back to their owner.

Once I reach the little drug store, I pause just outside the door. Taking a breath, I enter, the crutches in hand. Luckily, the owner is here today.

I walk up to the counter. "Hi," I greet to get his attention.

He looks up from whatever he was doing and a flicker of recognition lights up his dark eyes. His hair is dark blue, short, and slicked back. His thin mustache moves as he begins to speak.

"Ah, hello. How may I help you?"

"Um," I start. "I'm the guy that borrowed these crutches from you a while ago," I say, holding the crutches up for him to see. "I thought I should return them."

Now he fully recognizes me.

"Yes, if you're done with them."

"Yeah." He walks around the counter, and I hand them to him. "Thanks for letting me use them."

He smiles toothily, his eyes closed due to his cheeks stretching so far. "No problem." He holds out his hand. "I'm Macao, Macao Conbolt."

I grasp his hand and shake it. "Natsu Dragneel."

Macao's eyes fly open, and his hand freezes mid-shake.

"Natsu . . . Dragneel?"

I look at him, confused and wary. "Uh, yeah. Do I know you?"

He removes his hand from mine and says, "No. But your father did."

My eyes widen so much I wonder if they're going to pop out of my head.

"What?" I ask, my mind still stuck on trying to understand that this man could possibly be a family friend.

"I knew your father, Igneel Dragneel," Macao repeats. "And he left something for you."

* * *

**Can anyone guess what that 'something' is? I would love to know what you guys think it might be!**

**So, summer is almost here (yay!), but it's very, very busy for me, so I'll try to update during it, but if I don't, please know I HAVE NOT abandoned this fic. The same goes for my other fics. And I'll try to update **My Other Half **asap.**

**Thanks so much to everyone that has stuck with me through all my late updates! I love you all!**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses (I'll respond through PM for everyone that has an account):**

OKAKUREVER (guest)- **Thank you! I just love NaLu! And she might . . . eventually. I'm glad you loved the chapter!**

Kasumi72 (guest)- **Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! I'm very happy that you decided to read my story, and I'm so glad you love it! It thrills me every time I read your reviews to know your reactions, and I am amazed at the reactions I get. I honestly had no idea someone would love my story as much as you do. Thank you. I love knowing my readers' reactions, and you tell yours in such a good way that my confidence in my writing has just 'leveled up'. It makes me happy beyond words to know each chapter is your new favorite chapter, and I am excited to know what you think of future chapters. Again, thank you.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey mina! For once it didn't take forever for me to update!**

**How many of you have read my new one-shot? I'd love it if you would!**

**Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed!**

**Here's chapter twelve!**

* * *

"W-what?" I stammer. This man—Macao Conbolt—knew my father? How? When? Why did Dad never tell me about him?

Macao nods. "I knew your father, Igneel, through our kids. They played together at school and—"

"What," I say, cutting him off. How could he know my dad through their kids? I'm an only child; I've never met this man or his child before.

"My son, Romeo, and Igneel's daughter—"

"What daughter," I demand. "He didn't have a daughter. I'm an only child." What the hell is he talking about?

Macao looks taken aback. "Wendy always played with Romeo. Are you telling me she wasn't his daughter?"

"As far as I know, no, she wasn't, or rather, isn't."

"But—how can that be? Igneel even introduced her to me and Romeo as his daughter."

I'm growing angry. Either this man is telling lies, or my father was hiding something huge from me.

"What's her name?" I ask.

"Wendy."

"Her last name," I clarify.

"Marvel. Wendy Marvel," Macao replies.

I furrow my eyebrows. "My dad's last name, as you know, was Dragneel. I don't know who this 'Wendy' person is, but she is not related to my father."

Macao's gaze softens, like he's been through a similar thing to this before or something. "Maybe she wasn't by blood or name, but what about her being a . . . stepdaughter?"

"What?" It comes out as a distressed, disbelieving whisper.

"What if she was his stepdaughter, and he was her stepfather?"

I can't believe what I'm hearing. I don't want to. It would mean Dad lied. It would mean he didn't tell me. And what if it's not true? What if I don't have a stepsister and I'm just getting my hopes up for nothing? But it all makes sense; it's the only way that Macao and I's interactions and connection with Dad could make sense and work. Does . . . Does that mean I have a . . . a sister? A stepsister, yes, but a sister all the same. Do I have one, somewhere out there? Do I have a step_mom_? Am I not completely family-less?

On the other hand, though, I'm mad at my father. How could he hide something like this from me? _Why _would he hide this from me? That part doesn't make sense at all. My dad was always honest, sometimes brutally so; it doesn't make sense that he would lie and hide something so _huge _from me. And now I have the most important question yet: I didn't know about Wendy until now.

Does she know about me?

"Natsu. . ." Macao utters my name, pulling me from my confused thoughts. "I think this is something I can help you with, but I will need time to contact the Marvels."

I look him in the eye and say sincerely, "Thank you."

He smiles. "And about that other thing—what your father left for you. I'll have Romeo give it to you tomorrow at the entrance to Fairy Tail High—you go there, right?"

"Yes."

"Right. He'll give it to you tomorrow. Even we do not know what it's in it, so be prepared for anything."

I feel a little uneasy at that, but I say, "Thanks, I'll wait for him there."

Macao nods with that small smile, and I can't help but smile too. Sensing that the conversation is over, I turn towards the door. "Thanks again!" I call over my shoulder, exiting the door.

I see him waving out of the corner of my eye.

* * *

I reach The House before I know it. My thoughts were so focused on this Wendy Marvel and whatever it is Dad left for me that the time just flew by. During that time, I reached no other possible conclusion other than she's my stepsister.

Speaking of time, what time is it? I check my cheap watch and see that it's six in the afternoon. I suddenly feel cold, and I shudder.

I'm late.

I take a few deep breaths to calm myself and open the door with a trembling hand. It opens with a dull creak, and I slowly, cautiously step inside. Looking around, I see no one awaiting my return. Quietly I slip off my shoes and tip-toe up the stairs, then the attic stairs.

Once safely inside my attic-room, I let out the breath I was holding. Hopefully Jiemma didn't notice I was late, or I will have Hell to pay.

But it smelled strongly of booze downstairs, so I'm hoping Jiemma is lying passed out on the couch. Or dead from alcohol poisoning. Dead might be better.

He never drinks _that _much, though. So the chances of that are slim.

I plop down on my cardboard bed and rest my arm over my eyes. "What am I gonna do about dinner . . .?" I mutter. It's a legitimate question; I'm not just saying that like some hungry kid that can't get dinner yet because it's too early or not ready. I really don't know what I'm going to do about it.

Maybe I'll just skip it tonight. . .

My stomach says otherwise. It's growling up a storm. I sigh and rise to my feet. _I'll check to see if Jiemma really is passed out before I make any decisions,_ I decide in my head as I pull open the small window and squeeze through. Carefully, with trained movements, I jump from my window to the slanting roof below and then slide down until I can hop to a lower section of the roof. From there I climb onto a convenient tree branch and shimmy down the tree, to the ground.

I duck behind some dying bushes in the back of the house and sneak up to the first floor windows. Peering inside, I see a lump on the couch; it rises up and down in a rhythm that can only be of someone sleeping—or passed out. I decide it's the latter and go around front, quickly walking away from one hellhole in my life.

I check my pockets as I walk down the street. Empty. Of course they are.

"Hmm." _It looks like I'll be stealing tonight. Maybe there's something in a garbage can? _I think.

I look around me, at the shops, restaurants, parks. A park is out of the question; I hardly ever find anything there at night. A shop might have something lying around from where a customer dropped an item, or a nice employee willing to give me sympathy food, and if it comes to it I can steal a small something from one. Restaurant garbage cans are my last resort.

My mind is made up.

I stealthily make my way to the back of a shop. I peer around the corner, see that the coast is clear, and casually walk around, keeping my eyes open for any sign of food. I see none. That figures. Okay, time to shoplift then. (Kids, don't try this at home. It's dangerous, wrong, and will get you in trouble with the cops.)

I go back around to the front and enter the shop, hearing the little _ding _from the bell on the door. I stuff my hands in the pockets of my hood-y and walk to the candy section. I know, I know, not the healthiest choice. But it is the easiest to grab.

I pick one up and fake reading the health label on the back, then slip it inside my pocket when no one's looking. I do the same with three more (and even manage to snatch a protein bar too!) and head over to the big refrigerators on the other side of the store. I look into each one, decide tonight is a splurge night, and manage to hide a soda in my hood (don't ask how; it's complicated).

I exit the store shaking my head like I didn't find anything I wanted.

Once safely around the corner of the building, I pick up my pace. I don't want to risk someone realizing I stole and catching up to me.

It's getting dark now, as I walk aimlessly on a sidewalk and chew a chocolate bar. My watch says it's around seven, and I decide to head back soon so I don't get caught out of the house. I turn on my heel to go in the direction of the house. Then I notice that everything is quiet.

And deserted.

I furrow my brows. It's not that late yet; there should be more people out and about. Something's not right. I look around at my surroundings. Then it hits me. I've traveled too far.

This is gang territory.

It belongs to Oracion Seis, to be exact. But as I look more closely at where I am, I realize this is the spot of land that Oracion Seis and another gang, Grimoire Heart, are fighting over.

Both gangs are big, powerful, and frankly scary. Then add their core members and it's a run-for-your-life kind of fear that they make one experience. No, wait. Make that a run-like-all-of-hell-is-chasing-you kind of fear.

I try not to show my growing terror. You never know who's watching you in this part of town, and you sure as Hell don't want them to see you're scared. But it gets harder and harder to hide it as three people step out of the shadows of nearby buildings. I back up instinctively, and then hold my ground.

A lean, strong-looking man steps out. He looks a little older than me, and he seems to be the one in charge. His hair is midnight-black on the top, with white hair resting on his shoulders. He wears all-black clothes over his very pale skin. His eyes are vicious; they're blood-red and cold, and their menacing gaze is intensified by the dark eyeliner he's wearing.

The teen next to him is noticeably taller than him, and looks my age. He has spiky maroon hair, tanned skin, and reptilian eyes, the right-side one closed from a scar running over it. His smirk reveals sharp canine teeth like a snake's. He wears a white coat over a black shirt, and his hands are stuffed in the pockets of his black jeans.

Then there's the girl. Her expression of amusement and wickedness is too much like Minerva's, and when she grins, it's creepy and cold like her brown eyes. She has long white hair, natural or dyed, I don't know, and light skin. Her attire is of a form-fitting coat unzipped halfway to show she wears nothing under it, and really short white shorts.

They stand there, watching me, but make no move to come any closer. I don't look their way as I start heading out of the gang territory, and I desperately hope they aren't going to follow me. I'm so close to being in the clear.

So it really sucks when someone new is in front of me faster than I can comprehend their movements.

I fall back as he comes to an abrupt stop mere centimeters from where my face had been. I prop myself up on my elbows and look at him. He has blonde hair styled in a Mohawk and is wearing sunglasses despite it being almost dark out. He wears a red tracksuit and running shoes, and his nose is unusually long. He smirks down at me.

I back up and slowly rise to my feet. They have surrounded me by now.

"Pink hair, black eyes, boot on foot. . ." the girl says. She smiles and looks to the black haired man. "Looks to me like it's him."

He narrows his eyes and nods slightly, studying me. "What do you think, Cobra?"

The maroon haired man, Cobra, looks me up and down with his one good eye—his left eye, I notice. He pauses for a moment, closing his eye, and then nods. He opens his eye and looks to the guy in charge. "Well, he definitely ain't from Grimoire; his heart's beatin' too fast for that. And he fits the description, so Angel's probably right. I think it's him."

I look at them with scared eyes. 'Him'? Why do they think I'm this 'him'? Do they know me? Are they out to get me?

The black haired man steps forward and I turn so that I'm facing him. He puts his hands on his hips and smirks victoriously.

"I'm Midnight. And you're coming with us."

* * *

**For some reason I had trouble writing Natsu and Macao's conversation, but I hope it turned out all right. And hopefully the ending isn't too rushed or sudden; it was the perfect spot to end the chapter.**

**Well, things are gonna pick up in this fic. I'm looking forward to writing it!**

**I'm finally out of school and have about two weeks before I head to the beach, so I'll try to get some more chapters out before I leave.**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses (only guest reviews; I'll PM those with accounts):**

Miss Daydream- **I'm so glad you love it! What Natsu gets will be good, and NaLu will come!**

Tsubasa- **Thanks! Hmm. . . It might be. . . You never know. . .**

Kasumi72- **Hahaha, I love your review! It made me so happy! The scarf might be coming. . . And Romeo will come, as the chapter said. I am so happy you love my fic! Thanks for your wonderful reviews!**

Guest- **Thanks! I will!**

ak- **Thank you! I'll update soon!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey mina! I hope it hasn't been too long. How is everyone?**

**I don't know how I feel about this chapter. . . But it will definitely move the plot line along some for later chapters. Let me know what you think about it please!**

**Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed!**

**Here's chapter thirteen!**

* * *

I have no choice but to follow them. I don't know what will happen if I don't.

They form a circle around me so I can't escape. The leader, Midnight, is in front of me; Angel, the girl, is to my left; Cobra is to my right; and the unnamed guy wearing sunglasses is behind me. I walk in the middle like a prisoner. I hope that's not what I am.

We turn into an alley and come to a stop at a door. I study my surroundings, looking for an escape route. I make note of the chain attached to a pole; I assume there's a dog somewhere.

Midnight opens the door, and it creaks and groans like something from a horror movie. Inside, all I see is darkness. Somehow Midnight navigates the hallways with perfection. We don't bump into anything on our way deeper into what seems like endless darkness.

Finally, we come to a large room about half full with people. They all look rugged and sketchy, and I decide not to trust a single one of them.

_This must be Oracion Seis's headquarters, _I think. I look around the room, at the boarded up windows, the solid walls, the armed people. Then I look closer at the people and realize they aren't Oracion Seis members.

They're Sabertooth.

How do I know? The freaking tattoo of a Saber-toothed Tiger. It adorns various body parts and is in many different colors.

Well now I know why I'm here.

But I never knew Sabertooth was a _gang_.

I'm taken to the spot in front of a throne-like chair, and Angel kicks the backs of my knees so I crumple to the ground. I tuck my legs underneath me to be able to sit on my knees. I don't look up.

The four members of Oracion Seis leave me there, and I hear Midnight tell someone to "Go get him." I have a feeling I already know who "him" is.

The room goes quiet as he enters. I look up with terrified eyes as he approaches. By now I'm shaking, and I'm really close to hyperventilating. I don't know what they're going to do to me. I don't know if I'll ever get out of here. I don't even know if I'm going to survive.

I could _die _here.

Sting is just that merciless.

Sting looks down on me with a gaze so cold I visibly flinch away from him. He smirks at my fear and bends down so his face is just above mine, his hard blue eyes boring into my onyx ones.

"Well now," he says. "Natsu, I didn't think you'd be here so soon. Did you want to come that much?"

I don't reply.

"What's the matter?" he asks sarcastically, standing up. "Too afraid to say anything?" When I don't answer, he grins, showing his elongated canines. "Thought so. Well, then, shall we get started? Bind him."

Before I can move, I'm thrown to the ground and two muscular people are dragging me away. I'm then tied by the wrists to two poles so my arms are straight out horizontally. I tug and pull at the ropes, but they don't budge, and I'm stuck, trapped.

Sting struts up to me, the gang members following behind, and a circle is formed around us. I tremble as Sting gets closer.

"I've had a pretty shitty day," he says, "so I'll start with this." He proceeds to punch me in the face—repeatedly, over and over like his life depends on it. My head swivels left or right at each blow, and I can feel blood dripping down most of my face. Every time I grunt or the like, the crowd cheers and Sting's fists come at me harder.

When he is finally finished he takes a step back. His eyes are pleased and proud, and the crowd behind him goes wild with cheers. They admire his work.

"Now," Sting continues, "this is for making it harder for me to get Lucy."

He holds out a hand to the guy on his right, and the man places a rope-like coil in it. I can't tell what he's holding until he's right in front of me, raining blow after blow upon my stomach and chest.

It's not a rope he's holding.

It's a whip.

I scream and cry out as each hit lands on its target, as sickening cracks sound throughout the room, as I feel my flesh being ripped apart and blood ooze down from the gashes left by the whip. The entirety of my front side stings and aches, and I can't even begin to imagine how many scars this will add to the ones I already have.

Then Sting moves to my back.

But there's a pause. A pause in which I hope it's over, but do not believe, even for a second, that it is. It's a pause in which I wish I can see Sting's face because he would not stop unless there is great reason to. And then I think I know why he stopped.

He sees the scars Jiemma gave me.

He sees my other wounds, my other pain.

And he stops for a moment to think about it, to think about what he should do.

That moment does not last long, for the next thing I know I feel the whip upon my bare back, shredding my flesh.

Sometime during this, I pass out from the pain.

* * *

I wake, still chained at the wrists, who-knows-how-long later. The first thing that comes to mind is "Where am I?" But I remember too quickly for me to voice the question, and I slump in defeat. I'm not getting out of here, that much is clear.

_At least there aren't spectators anymore,_ I think, trying to make myself feel better.

It doesn't work.

My head snaps up at the sound of a door opening, and I see daylight pouring in. _So I was out at least the night._

Sting walks in and comes to me. I look down, fearing he's come to hurt me more.

Sting, however, does not touch me. Instead he starts talking.

"I didn't get to fully punish you last night," he begins. "But I think you've learned your lesson to not mess with me."

I look up, confused, and wait for him to continue.

"I guess I can let you go," he says. My hopes rise slightly. "On some conditions, that is."

I give a shaky nod to let him know I'm listening.

"One, you will not speak of this to _anybody_." I nod. No one would believe me anyway. "Two, you _never _pull something like you did in the library yesterday." I nod again, this time not really planning to uphold that term. "Three, you say nothing bad about me again to Lucy. I want her as mine, and you're getting in my way of that." Once again I nod, but I vow to myself to never let him have Lucy. "And four, you go back to being that lonely nerd you were. No more of this 'friends' thing; they ruin my fun."

I sigh inwardly, not knowing if I'll follow that or not, and nod.

"Good," Sting says. "Now, I'll release you." He undoes the shackles on my wrists, and I fall to my knees, rubbing my sore wrists. "Get out of here before I change my mind."

He doesn't have to tell me twice. I run out of there as fast as I can, shirtless and everything. I struggle with the door at first, then manage to open it, and I trip over a pile of clothes—my clothes—right outside the door. I throw my shirt on to hide the whip marks and pull my hood-y on. I speed-walk down the dingy alley.

I come to a stop, however, when I see the Rottweiler, its eyes gleaming dangerously, its deadly sharp teeth bared in a snarl, and its posture ready to kill. I expect it to charge and tackle me, to bite my throat and end my life.

What I do not expect is to see the wounded cat lying motionless at its feet.

Something takes over me and I run at the canine full sprint. Somehow I manage to grab the dirt-covered cat and cradle it in my arms as I run past the Rottweiler. I keep running knowing the dog is right on my heels, until I hear the thud that means the dog's chain has gone taut and he can't chase me anymore.

I run out of the gang territory and walk once I'm in the safe parts of town again. With the injured feline, I can't go back to Jiemma's—he'd kill the poor thing on sight. So instead I head to the one place I know is safe for him.

I head to Lucy's apartment.

At least, I hope I'm heading to Lucy's apartment. I don't fully remember its location since I've only been there once.

Nevertheless, I eventually find a building that looks familiar and knock on the door I think is hers.

Luckily I'm right; Lucy answers the door. She's dressed for school already and was probably on her way out. At first she looks startled that it's me, then she ushers me inside, fussing about all the dirt on me or something.

Lucy brushes some dirt off my shoulder, and then looks into my eyes, searching them for something.

I shove the muddy feline into her arms and collapse on the floor.

"Natsu!" Lucy yells. She's quickly at my side, the poor cat still in her arms, and flips me over so I'm on my back. I grunt in pain as she does so.

Carefully she places the cat on the floor, and he stays there, too scared and hurt to move. Then Lucy turns her full attention to me. She unzips my hood-y and pulls each of my arms from the sleeves to remove it. My only jacket is tossed to the side, out of the way.

"L-Luce. . ." I croak, my lips parched and tongue dry.

"Natsu," she says, "stay still. I'm going to take your shirt off."

My eyes widen and I immediately grab her approaching hand. "N-no," I manage to say. "Don't."

Her eyebrows furrow in confusion, and she asks, "Why?"

"J-just . . . don't." I groan in pain.

"Natsu," Lucy says firmly. "I'm going to take your shirt off and help you whether you want me to or not. I can't sit by as one of my best friends lies on my floor, obviously hurt and need of help."

By now my eyes are half closed and I'm barely hanging on to consciousness. "H-help . . . the cat . . . too. . ." I whisper weakly. "P-please. . ."

I hear Lucy's words before the world goes dark.

"I will, Natsu, I promise."

* * *

**I kinda wish it was longer, but this was a good spot to end it, in my opinion. Sorta a cliffhanger.**

**Well then, I have no idea when the next chapter will be out; hopefully it won't take too long.**

**I'm really excited to continue writing this fic, and things are gonna get real in a couple chapters.**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses (these are only going to be guest reviews from now on; I'll PM those with accounts):**

Guest- **I'm glad you're getting excited! I hope it stays that way :) I can't promise that I won't hurt him too much though. . .**

Tsubasa- **I think I'm going to add in Richard later as someone that left Oracion Seis, Racer is the unnamed guy in the red tracksuit and shades, and I don't know about Brain yet, tbh. Lol, thanks, I tried to make it not too monotone and boring.**

050300NALU- **Thanks! I'm so happy you're back! And I'm really glad you continued reading my stories :D And you might be right about him getting the scarf, but I'm not going to give away spoilers. Also, you're pretty close about Wendy, but some things are off. I'd love to know what else you think will happen with Wendy :) I'd love to continue our previous conversation about bowling and stuff!  
And happy (late) birthday!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey everyone! Here's the chapter I promised!**

**Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed!**

**And again, I am so very sorry about the really late update. Please forgive me.**

**Here's chapter fourteen!**

* * *

I don't know when I wake up, but when I do, my eyes won't open. It's as if they're glued shut. So I sit there, listening for sounds of life. My memory is foggy, and I don't fully know where I am. It's all one big blur.

I lay there for a bit longer before it starts coming back to me: being caught, Sting, the whip. The pain. The unbearable pain. And escaping, running, with something in my arms. Then Lucy's apartment and collapsing. Now if only I can remember what was in my arms. . .

Try as I might, I can't remember what it was, so I resign to lying on the bed, thinking about nothing in particular, just resting. I try moving my hand, but only my fingers twitch.

It's then that I notice the hand holding mine.

I hear someone stir next to me. A pressure is lifted from the bed, as if someone had their head placed on it.

"Natsu?" a groggy voice says. I recognize it as Lucy's. "Are you awake?"

I open my parched lips to answer, but my throat is too dry for any words to form. I give a small nod instead. I hear Lucy gasp and feel her lean over me. My eyes still won't open.

"How are you feeling, Natsu?" Lucy asks, concern lacing her voice.

I try to pry my eyes open, and it works. Well, it sort of does; they open halfway, just enough for me to see Lucy hovering by me.

I start to tell her that I'm better (even though I'm not; I'm hurting like hell) but a groan of pain is all that comes out.

Lucy becomes visibly more worried. She reaches for something on her bedside table, and the next thing I know, she's telling me to swallow some pills. I comply and swallow the pills with water that she gives me.

My eyes flutter fully open, revealing Lucy's bed and the cat curled up asleep at the end. Wait, cat? Then I remember. The cat is what was in my arms.

Lucy leans into my view again. I give what I hope is a reassuring smile.

"Thank you," I say with a hoarse voice, meaning it with all my heart.

She bursts into tears. "I was so worried," she sobs. "I didn't know what would happen to you."

"Lucy. . ." I murmur. She continues to cry into her hands, and I have the urge to comfort her. I sit up in the bed, wincing at the pain the action brings. Once in a sitting position, I wrap my arms around Lucy and pull her close to me, placing her head against my chest.

We sit there for a while, her crying into my chest, me holding her as she does so. Her cries eventually stop and she looks up at me, into my eyes. I return the gaze and give her a small smile.

"Everything is going to be okay," I tell her. "I promise. So please don't cry."

"But seeing you like that—like this—it's painful. It hurts. Natsu, it makes me sad to see you so beat up." A silent tear escapes her eye.

I caress her face in my hand and wipe away the tear with my thumb.

I look at her with sad eyes, wanting desperately to tell her that I'll be fine, that I'm used to things like this. But I can't. I just can't. I can't bring myself to say it, to admit it. I'm not ready to. And that scares me. Why can't I tell her? I trust her with my life, so why can't I tell her? But I'm asking questions I know the answers to.

I can't tell her because it would put her in danger.

I look away, worried she might read my thoughts, and not wanting to have to answer her questions. She's bound to ask some eventually. She always does.

And I can't evade them forever.

"Natsu. . ." I turn back to Lucy, who is now sitting on the bed with her legs hanging off the side. She looks up at me and asks, "Are you really okay?"

I can't meet her gaze. "Yes."

"I just feel like there's more than what I see." She looks down to her lap. "I mean, you're almost always hurt, and you don't really ever give an explanation as to why. Everyday there's something new: a new scar, a new cut, a new bruise, a new broken bone. I'm scared that someday it's going to be worse, that someday you won't come to school. That you won't ever come back to school." She looks at me now, fresh tears welling in her chocolate eyes and spilling down her cheeks. "Everyone's worried, Natsu. I'm worried."

"Lucy. . ." I trail off, not knowing what to say, not able to say what I want to. So instead I move closer to her and wipe away her tears, tracing my thumb down her cheek to her chin. She leans into my touch and closes her eyes, letting the tears flow.

"Natsu," she says, opening her eyes, "you know I'm here for you, right? I'm here if you need me. Gray, Erza, Gajeel, Levy, Lisanna—we're all here for you. Every one of us is. All you need to do is tell us. I promise you we'll help." She looks at me almost pleadingly. "So please," she says, her voice just barely above a whisper now, "tell us—tell me—what's happening."

My hands drop to my lap and I look to the side, away from her. I feel so bad about not telling her; it's obviously hurting her. But I can't tell her. I can't put her in danger. Not like I did with Zeref.

"Someday."

"What?" she asks.

"Someday I'll tell you." I rise from the bed and put my shirt on, my back to her. "But I won't today." Ignoring the pounding in my head and the ache in my body, I grab my hood-y and head for the door. I take hold of the knob and pause. Is this the right decision? Is this really the right choice to make? For now, I decide that yes, it is.

"Please take care of the cat for me," I say. And then I leave.

* * *

Three blocks away, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I can't believe that just happened. I can't believe I just got super beat up by Sting in front of the Sabertooth gang and made it to Lucy's place. I can't believe she felt that way. I'm hurting her aren't I? By not telling her, I'm actually hurting her. Maybe I should tell her . . .?

No.

At least this way she's safe. That matters the most.

I make a left turn in the direction of where I live. I'm not eager to go back there, but I need to or Jiemma will shock me, thinking I've tried to escape his clutches.

I walk for a few more minutes, not really thinking about anything. Pfft, that's a lie. I'm thinking about so many things: what might happen when I get back, how and when I'll tell Lucy, if I'll accept her help, if I'll get help on my own before telling her, or if I'll just rip the shock-chip out of my arm and run away and die homeless on the streets.

I reach the house all too soon and climb up the steps. Taking off my shoes before I enter, I slowly open the door and creep inside. After quietly placing my shoes by the front door I tiptoe to the stairs and sneak up them. The top stair is where things go south.

I freefall down the steps, my back hitting against them, and then I flip and my stomach hits the edge of the second-to-last step, and I lie on the floor in pain. I turn from my back to my side, trying to stand before he gets to me. But I don't make it in time.

"Boy!" Jiemma booms, lifting me off the floor by my bangs. "You're late!" He slams my head to the floor and then pushes his foot down on my face. "I told you not to be late!" His foot stomps down on my head repeatedly, and I begin to lose consciousness. By now my glasses have shattered, and I can feel little shards of glass embedded near my eyes. I keep them shut tight for fear of glass getting in them.

"I warned you once already," Jiemma growls, leaning down toward me, adding pressure with his foot, "to not be late." He removes his tough foot from my head and slams his heel into my jaw. "So why," he demands, "are you late?"

I can't move my mouth to answer, and Jiemma takes my silence as refusal to explain. He drags me up from the floor by the collar of my shirt and slams my back against the wall. Then he knees me hard in the stomach. Bile rises to my throat as well as blood, and I cough a mixture of the two out. Jiemma beats me over and over in various ways: kneeing, kicking, punching, and any other form he knows. I don't know how long it lasts because I become unconscious in the middle of it, but a particularly nasty slash to my cheek revives me to consciousness.

Jiemma steps back as I slide down the wall, to the floor, and crumple on my side. And then I'm being dragged across the floor, up the stairs, up the attic stairs, and into my attic-room by my two wrists. I don't even feel anything anymore. Everything is just . . . numb.

I feel my wrists being lifted above my head and something attach to my right one, then my left. It's chains I'm feeling. Jiemma has chained my wrists to a thick, wooden support beam for the ceiling. My feet touch the floor and I'm forced to stand on legs too weak to hold me up.

Jiemma then holds up a device. Not just any device—the remote to the shock-chip in my arm.

I use what little energy I have left to try and squirm free of the chains, but it's no use. I'm stuck a prisoner in this house. And I can't get free.

"No. . . Please, no," I beg.

Jiemma only grins sadistically and stuffs a gag in my mouth. Then he hits the only button on his remote, and I writhe as bolts of electricity travel through my body. Unable to scream, my eyes bulge from my face and I furiously thrash about.

Jiemma does this on and off for the next couple of hours, enjoying my unbelievable pain and suffering and despair and overall hopelessness. Not once do I see a shred of guilt in his eyes; only pure satisfaction and happiness and bliss.

Honestly, I don't think I'm going to survive this time.

* * *

So it's a miracle that I do.

I regain consciousness hours later. Well, I don't know if it's hours or days or weeks. All I do know is that I'm on the floor of my room, free from the chains that had bound my wrists. When I look out the one tiny window my room provides, I see that it's daytime, maybe late morning. I think I'll skip school today. But I still need to get out of this place.

Fighting the pain, I pull myself to a sitting position. Somehow I manage to get to my feet, leaning against the wall for support, and grab a clean pair of clothes. Slowly and painfully, I pull the new wear on and search for my glasses before I remember that they're long gone.

I barely make it down the attic staircase; I almost trip a numerous amount of times. Nevertheless, I make it down the next staircase, to the first floor, and into the bathroom. I look at myself in the mirror. I can't even describe what I look like; it's so bad. I look worse than death. Beyond pale, my skin is sickly looking, as if I was just revived from dying, and my eyes are so glazed over, they look as if they don't see anything. Then there are the cuts and bruises and gashes and swelling. There's too much to count.

I take my time in cleaning myself up. It doesn't do much, though, since I only have soap and water available to me, but every little bit will help to keep out infection. I don't know how long I am in there; I'm assuming an hour.

When I exit the bathroom I look at the clock on the wall to find that it's almost ten-thirty in the morning. Good, Jiemma is at work and Minerva is at school. I'm free of them both—for now. But I still need to leave this house.

I limp over to the front door and open it slowly. Seeing no one on the front steps, I shamble down them and to the sidewalk. I turn right and walk little by little to nowhere in particular, thinking about nothing, just wandering.

When I'm a block away from the house, I see someone. They look familiar, but they're too far away for me to tell who they are. All I see right now is blond. This leaves three options: Lucy, Laxus, or Sting.

I settle on not risking it being the latter two. I turn around just as whoever it is notices me. They yell out, their words carried away by the wind, and wave. I still don't know who it is. And as they get closer, I make a split-second decision that I don't know if my body can physically comply to.

I run.

* * *

**So what'd you think?**

**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully it doesn't feel rushed. . .**

**ALSO, FOR THOSE WHO WANT A CHAPTER OUT OF LUCY'S POINT OF VIEW:**

**I am currently planning to make that chapter soon. But if you would like to choose which chapter is in her POV, there is a poll on my profile page for you to vote on. I would really appreciate it if you would vote so I know when to do it. Thanks.**

**School is busy and interfering with my schedule, but I hope to have the next chapter out soon.**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses (Like always, I'll reply to guest reviews here and PM those with accounts):**

Guest- **Yep.**

Amicelie- **Thank you.**

Guest- **Lol, you're welcome.**

Inferno2572- **Thank you. Good luck with your fan fic. And I will continue. Happy writing! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for the long wait!**

**Thanks to everyone that followed, favorited, and/or reviewed! And extra special thanks to everyone that's been sticking with me through my horrible updating!**

**Here's chapter fifteen!**

* * *

I trip.

The ground speeds towards me as I fall, and I barely have time to thrust my hands forward to shield my face.

Apparently running down a hill at a sprint isn't a good idea.

Especially while injured.

I tumble and roll down the grassy side. I'd veered off the path in hopes of losing my blond perpetrator. I still don't know who it is, but I don't want to risk anything. Unfortunately, I hadn't gotten that far before I lost my footing on the incline, and I could only imagine how close they must have been getting.

Once my descent down the hill comes to a painful halt, I rise unsteadily to my feet and take off again. I'm still in a lot of pain from the beating earlier, and now there's fresh wounds from my tumble. I run with a limp. To be honest, I'm not really running anymore; it's more of a wobbly fast-walk than anything else.

I reach a small cluster of trees and lower my broken body to the ground, leaning my back against a tree. Trying to calm my breaths, I peer from the tree, looking for anyone suspicious and blond. Just when I don't see anyone to my right, I hear the snap of a twig to my left.

"Hi-ya Natsu!"

I jump at the overly familiar voice, not at all expecting it to be _him_. His blond spikes fall haphazardly down his back, almost as long as Gajeel's hair, but not quite. That crooked grin I hate so much is plastered to his face, and his deadly red eyes hold a playful yet dangerous glint. The black hood-y he wears zipped up to just below the collarbone is baggy, and his sleeves roll up to the elbow with one of his hands out in a wave and the other in his jean's pocket.

Too shocked that it's him, I stare dumbly.

"What, not gonna say hello to your bestest buddy?" he teases, but I know him better than that. He's not here for a friendly reunion.

"Z-Zancrow." That's all I can manage. So sue me. I haven't seen this guy since the seventh grade.

And it wasn't a happy parting.

Zancrow sighs dramatically. "I'm hurt. I don't even get an 'it's nice to see you.'" Then he chuckles. "Ah, well. I didn't really expect that anyway. How ya been? Holdin' yer own okay? Pfft, I bet not. You never were one to stick up fer yerself."

"What do you want, Zancrow," I finally ground out. I'm _not _in the mood for his berating.

"Touchy aren'tcha? Hehe, I like that; straight to the point. Mind if I sit down?"

He doesn't wait for my answer before he plops himself down across from me.

"So"—I notice his voice is lowered—"yer brother sent me."

"He what?"

I haven't seen my big brother Zeref in years. Ever since Jiemma did what he did to him, he's been on the run—from Jiemma, from the police, from people who hold a grudge, you name it. All I'm going to say for now is that my brother is innocent.

Zancrow's eyes dart around our surroundings, scanning for potential eavesdroppers. Then he continues. "He met up with me—totally outta surprise too. Just _poof_ I'm here to chat! He told me some stuff—we can't go into detail out here—and that he wants me to give a message to you. Something about some deep shit he's gotten himself into. I don't know; he wouldn't go into much detail. But he's scared fer ya. He wants ya to come join him—thinks you'll be safe that way or somethin'."

I take a moment to process this. Zeref, after all these years, has finally contacted me. I can see him again! But what about Jiemma? He won't like it if he finds out I've left. And I can't really go anywhere with the shock-chip in my arm.

But what if I got it out?

"Is that all he told you?" I ask first, and when Zancrow nods affirmative, I continue: "Where is he? What has he been doing? Is he alright? Where would I meet him?"

Zancrow's hand rises to stop my bombardment of questions. "Whoa, slow down there Natsu-boy. I can't answer all of those y'know. I don't know the answers to most of them myself. But I can tell you that he's doin' just fine. In fact, you heard of Tartaros?"

I rack my brain for any memory of that name. It finally clicks.

"The gang? Like, _the _Tartaros—the one in the Baram Alliance?"

"Yup. Well, yer big bro—he's the leader of Tartaros. Cool, huh?" That cocky grin splits his face again, but I hardly take notice.

_My brother leads one of the most dangerous gangs in Fiore._

I just can't wrap my head around it. Zeref was never the type to join a gang, much less lead one. He actually hated gangs. He thought they were ruthless and filled with a bunch of hooligans that didn't know what they were going to do with their lives so they threw them away. I have no idea why he would join Tartaros, of all gangs. Well, then again, there's not much else he could've done for protection while on the run from basically everyone. The infamous Spriggan is known throughout all of Fiore as a murderer and even rapist. From the time he was framed to the time he completely disappeared, people were on the lookout all day, every day, protecting their children from most everyone.

"I . . . Alright, I'll go."

"Yes! That's the spirit! It'll be like old times! You and me, a team again! Now with the addition of pretty much the most powerful gang leader. Man, we'll be unstoppable." His eyes shine with anticipation and desire. I, on the other hand, am not looking forward to anything he just mentioned besides the addition of my brother.

I cut off his joyous cackling. "I need some time first. There're a few things I need to do. And I have a problem."

"Huh? What is it?" His expression is one of thirst—probably thirst for the task, but more likely for the thirst of possibly being able to bash some heads.

"There's this chip in my arm. A shock-chip, actually. It'll electrocute me unless I get it out." I give him a look like _you know a guy?_

He returns with: "I know a guy."

* * *

We stand outside a very blue house. A very big, very blue house. Seriously, everything from the walls to the shingles to the roof—even the doors—is blue. All different shades, but blue nonetheless.

Zancrow walks up to the azure door and knocks—one rap, then two, and then one. A female voice yells "hold on!" and a second later the door is thrown open.

The first thing I notice is that she's older than me. She's at least three years older, so she's an adult living on her own most likely. The second thing I notice is that she's very beautiful and fit. Her navy hair trails straight down her back, stopping in the middle of her back. Her outfit consists of a tan tank top and brown Capris. Sandals adorn her feet.

"Zancrow." She scowls. "What do you want? I'm busy."

"My pal here needs a favor," Zancrow says. "He can't meet up with Zeref until you help him. I would, if I were you; you don't wanna be on the bad side of the Spriggan."

The woman's scowl deepens. "Fine." She gestures for us to enter, and we do. We walk into her house and enter the kitchen. She turns to us. "I'm Ultear," she says to me. "What do you need?"

As Zancrow explains my predicament, I look around the room. We stand by what I assume is the kitchen table. To our right is the kitchen itself, and to our left is a sitting area, probably a family room. A couch and two recliners sit on top of a beautiful rug with a dotted pattern. A television sits on a table near the far wall. But it's not the décor that catches my attention.

It's the person on the couch.

Gray stands up when we make eye contact and walks over to me. I gulp. Why is he here? Is he associated with Grimoire Heart—the gang Zancrow's in?

"Natsu?" he asks. "What're you doing here?"

"I-I could ask you the same thing," I say weakly.

He casually places his hands in his jean's pockets. "Ultear is my older sister."

"Oh."

I honestly didn't see that coming, but I guess I should have. After all, they are eerily similar. They have the same blue hair (though Ultear's is closer to purple) and sharp eyes. They have the same muscular yet lean build and angled face. They're also about the same height.

Gray opens his mouth to say something, but Ultear speaks first.

"Natsu, I presume," she says, looking at me. I nod, and she continues. "Come this way. The stuff's in the basement." Then she turns to Gray. "Call Meredy," she tells him.

Gray pulls out his phone and dials a number.

She walks back towards the door we entered from and takes a left to another door. All of us—including Gray, who's now talking on the phone—follow her through the door and down the steps. Ultear flicks a switch on the wall and the lights flicker to life.

I stare.

The basement looks like an operating room. A low table sits in the middle, surrounded by machines and tools. A table on wheels sits next to the table, medical instruments organized neatly on top. Doctors' coats and face masks hang on the far wall.

Ultear strides over and pulls out equipment, then slips on a coat over her outfit. She pulls her long raven locks into a low ponytail at the back of her head, making sure none of her bangs fall into her face.

"Natsu, I need you to sit on the table," she instructs as she covers said table with a sheet. I oblige, sitting down and swinging my legs up onto the table so that I'm lying down on my back. "Place the arm with the chip by your side, palm facing up," she continues, and I once again follow her orders. She opens a small drawer on her equipment cart and pulls out a device. I have no idea what it does, and I tense up.

"Relax, it's only a portable x-ray machine," Ultear tells me, her eyes just the slightest bit softer after seeing my discomfort. My body does relax, my muscles unclenching.

Just then another person rushes in from the stairs. She has long pink hair a lighter, brighter shade than my salmon pulled into a ponytail much like that of Ultear's. She's dressed in a simple red top and black leggings, a light coat overtop her outfit. She introduces herself as Meredy, a surgical doctor from a small, local hospital. It's now that I find out that Ultear specializes in drug-making and is also a nurse at the same hospital Meredy works at.

"Alright Natsu, this won't hurt." Ultear proceeds to hover the x-ray machine above the arm I laid out and hold it for a minute or so as Meredy draws lines on my arm. The sharpie kind of tickles as it's pressed against my skin.

I stare at the ceiling as Ultear injects something into my arm. The room grows blurry, and I hear myself calling out for someone. Lucy, I think, but I'm slurring too much to actually tell. A blob of dark blue and tan comes into my line of sight, and I can faintly hear Gray's voice saying something. Then the blob is gone and the voice is no longer aimed at me.

I close my eyes, suddenly overwhelmingly tired. Sleep washes over me, and I welcome it like an old friend.

* * *

When I come to I notice I'm still on the table. My arm is bandaged from the wrist to just before my elbow. My head is foggy and my tongue lies heavy in my mouth; my body can't physically move. My eyelids feel like weights and won't open.

Whatever Ultear drugged me with, it was some powerful stuff.

A moan escapes my lips as I gain more consciousness. I can barely feel anything. In fact, my bandaged arm is numb.

Slowly—oh, ever so slowly—my eyes open themselves, taking a bit to adjust to the lighting. My head lolls to the side, and I see a man asleep on a chair, his head resting on the wall behind him and light snores emitting from his parted mouth. Upon closer examination from where I lay on the table, I see that it's Gray.

I try to speak, but what comes out is little more than a soft grunt. I try again.

"Gr . . . Gray. . ."

My voice is so quiet, though, that I don't think he heard me. I'm proved wrong, however, when his head jerks up and he blinks the sleep from his eyes. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings, then his navy-blue eyes land on me.

Gray's out of his seat and next to the table almost faster than I can blink.

"Natsu. . ." he starts, but trails off, and I believe him to be unsure of what to say. But he quickly composes himself and demands answers. Why was there a chip in my arm, he asks. Why did I need it removed? Who was that guy, Zancrow?

He asks so many questions at once that I can't keep up with them all. So I take to closing my eyes again and just laying there, resting. Once Gray sees that he's not getting answers any time soon, he sighs and runs a hand through his thick raven locks.

"What happened to you, Natsu?" he whispers, and I'm once more shocked at the concern and care in his sincere voice.

I chuckle then, low and deep and not at all sane.

"You really wanna know? Fine. I've grown up in a shitty house with a bastard of an adoptive father. I'm bullied everyday on top of the abuse I receive at home. All my friends betrayed or abandoned me long ago, and I haven't trusted anyone for about seven to eight years." I can feel the tears building in the corners of my eyes and streaming down my face, but I don't care. "But that all changed. It changed when I met you guys. I finally had friends again. I'm learning to trust again. I'm learning that I'm not alone in this world." I don't remember looking him straight in the eyes, but I am. There's so much emotion swimming within their depths: shock, anger, concern, sympathy, but most of all there's . . . love. Pure, genuine love for a friend.

I cover my face with my un-bandaged hand, trying to stem the tears from freefalling down my face. I can't believe I just told Gray all that. Granted, I didn't go into detail, but I did just confess to being bullied and suffering domestic abuse. What will he think of me now? He'll probably see me as some weak loser who can't stand up for himself, much less defend himself.

But I don't really believe that.

I right myself on the table, my legs hanging over the side and my feet touching the floor. Shakily, I stand on my feet, gaze downward. I make a move to walk towards the stairs, away from Gray, away from secrets now out in the open, away from confessions.

But most of all I'm walking away truths I'm powerless to change.

To say I'm stunned when a strong, steady hand lands on my shoulder is an understatement. I'm practically frozen on the spot, unable to move, to comprehend what's happening. My brain goes completely blank when I find myself pressed into Gray's broad chest, his hands running through my hair soothingly.

"It's okay, Natsu," he says, his voice choked, and I realize he's crying too. "I'm here for you. Lucy's here for you. We're all here for you, Natsu. I wish you would've told someone sooner; we can help you. We will help you, this I promise you."

I pull away from him gently, my tears forming and falling faster than before. "No. . ." I whisper. "You can't tell anyone." My voice rises considerably. "He'll hurt you too!" I can feel my facial features morph to show my mounting panic, my eyes wide and undoubtedly terrified, my eyebrows scrunched in worry and fear.

"What?" he asks.

"He-he'll hurt you guys if he finds out. I don't want that to happen. I won't let it happen!" I practically shout now. "He's already gotten my brother; I won't let him get you guys too!"

"Natsu—"

"Promise me," I cut him off, "promise me you won't tell anyone."

"Na—"

"Promise me! Please. . ." I plead.

I see the moment he gives in—how his shoulders slump slightly in defeat, the sigh that exits his lips, the beaten look in his ocean eyes. "Okay," he says, slowly, as if he needs to test out the word. "Okay, I won't tell anyone. I promise."

I look at him with so much sincere gratitude that he is visibly startled.

"Thank you."

* * *

I find myself in front of Lucy's apartment door that same night. I'm not here for a friendly visit, though, or even to check up on the cat. No, I'm here for a more dark reason.

I leave tonight.

Zancrow will take me to someone in Zeref's guild named Jackal, and he'll take me to my brother. From what I know, a train ride might be involved, implying that the journey will take a good amount of time.

Which means I may not be coming back.

My fist rises to knock on her door, but I pause. I don't know why I hesitate; I just do. But then I'm knocking softly on the wood that separates me from the only person I can fully, whole-heartedly say I trust.

When she doesn't answer I grow nervous.

I walk around to the back of the building and clamber up the side, stopping in front of Lucy's window. She walks out of what I recognize as the bathroom, dressed in her pajamas. A towel rests on her head to dry her hair.

I tap on the glass of the window. Lucy jumps in surprise and turns her startled gaze towards me. I wave sheepishly with one hand as the other holds onto a groove in the bricks.

She throws open her window, ushering me inside, and exclaims, "What were you doing out there?!"

I grin at her in embarrassment. "Just hangin'."

She sighs. "As long as you're not hurt," she says, and I swear I hear her mutter _again _under her breath.

We stand in a somewhat awkward silence, neither of us really knowing what to say. I suddenly feel something soft brush against my leg, and I look down to find the cat I rescued rubbing against me. He looks up at me with big eyes and mews happily.

"Well aren't you happy?" I say, squatting down to pet the feline behind the ears. He purrs contentedly at the touch and affectionately mews again. I chuckle. Cats are such odd creatures, but I have a soft spot for them.

Lucy giggles slightly. "He likes you."

I smile up at her. "Have you given him a name?" I ask.

"No," she replies, pulling the towel from her head to let her damp hair fall down her back. She continues talking as she enters the bathroom. "I didn't know what to name him, and he's your cat anyway." She hangs up the towel on a hook in the wall. "I decided to wait until you came so you could name him," she says, exiting the bathroom with a hairbrush in hand.

"Aww, Luce, that's sweet of you. Thanks."

"It's no big deal, really." I take note that her eyes are focused on the brush she's running through her hair rather than me and her cheeks are dusted pink. "He seems really happy," she continues. Then she adds, "You do, too."

"That's it," I murmur, and at Lucy's questioning gaze I clarify. "His name will be Happy."

"Happy?"

"Yeah! He's happy, I'm happy, you're happy—he makes everyone happy!" The smile on my face is so big it hurts, but I can't stop, especially when Happy voices his agreement.

Lucy takes a seat on the edge of her bed while I take to the floor to continue petting Happy. We sit in a comfortable silence for a bit before I have to break it.

"Hey, Luce?" I ask tentatively.

She seems to notice the change in the atmosphere.

"Yeah?"

I take a deep breath, inhaling then exhaling slowly. I push past the nervous butterflies in my stomach and steel myself.

"I'm leaving tonight."

"What?"

"I'm leaving tonight," I repeat. "I'm going to see my brother. He lives a bit away."

"O-oh, that's great Natsu." She tries to sound excited, but I hear the strain in her voice. It breaks my heart to say what I have to say next.

"I don't know if I'll be coming back."

She's silent for a moment, and I don't dare to look at her.

"Why?" she finally asks, her voice no more than a whisper.

I sigh. "I'm starting a new life, Luce. Away from here, away from my adoptive father."

I look her in the eyes now, and hers are glassy like she's on the verge of tears.

I steel myself once more.

"I think it's time I told you what's been going on."

And so I do. She listens attentively as I talk about my real dad, Igneel; about how he died and I was sent to the orphanage where I met Zeref and we became like brothers; about us both being adopted and Zeref's disappearance about a year later. I leave out the details of what happened to him for now; I don't want her to know what kind of monster Jiemma truly is. She continues to silently listen as I talk about being bullied; about how Jiemma beats me almost daily; about getting the shock-chip removed earlier today. I spill almost the whole story to her, and by the end she's in tears. I'm in tears, too, after re-living my past.

I pull Happy into my lap and stroke his fur.

Petite arms wrap around my shoulders in a warm embrace, and I find myself wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her close to me. She moves her arms to wrap around my torso, and she leans her head against my shoulder; I rest mine against hers. She looks up into my eyes and brushes a strand of my salmon bangs away from my face.

"I'm sorry, Natsu. I wish I had known sooner. I would've done something to help you. I still will."

I shake my head, a soft smile on my face at the similar words to Gray's. "There's not much you can do, Luce. You'd only be putting yourself in danger, and I can't stand that thought."

She sighs dejectedly, moving her gaze down to Happy.

In this moment I feel an overpowering sense of _want_. I want Lucy. I want her now, I want her in my future, I wish she was in my past. I can't deny any longer that I have feelings for the girl next to me. She's stolen my heart with her selflessness, her caring nature, her bubbly personality, her shining eyes and bright smile; that unwavering desire to protect those close to her. I look at her longingly, wanting to capture her lips with mine to find out if they're as soft as they look.

Using my pointer and index fingers, I gently turn Lucy's head so she's facing me again. Her face flushes to an adorable shade of pink, and her eyes search my own for something. I lean in then, slow and experimental to gauge her reaction. My eyes are half lidded when our lips brush against each other. I wait for a beat to see if she pulls away. Her hand comes to rest on my chest, and I prepare to be pushed.

But she connects our lips.

The kiss we share is slow and passionate, tender and caring, so full of love that I can't describe it. She tilts her head back for a better angle, and I pull her ever closer. When we break apart for air her face is rosy red and she's panting just the slightest bit. I smile dazedly and bring my lips crashing back to hers for a more heated kiss. She nips playfully at my lower lip and I return in kind. Before I know it her tongue is asking permission and I grant it just that. Our tongues dance greedily together, flicking back and forth to tease the other. The kiss doesn't last nearly long enough before we must separate once more to breathe.

The emotion I feel is foreign to me, but I believe it to be what most call love.

Her head comes again to rest on my chest, and I lean back so that we're lying down, Happy between us. I stay for another hour or so before I have to leave, and I won't go into detail, but we did a lot more kissing. It was by far the best night of my life.

And I can say without a doubt that I love Lucy.

As I open the door to leave, my heart clenches painfully. I finally found happiness in this city—finally found _love_—and now I'm leaving it. But I have no other choice; I'm not safe so long as Jiemma is around.

Lucy and I share one more kiss before I depart. It's desperate and needy and our longest one yet.

And then I say goodbye for what may be the last time.

* * *

**This is my longest chapter written for any of my stories so far, standing at a total of 4,387 words. I made it longer as an apology for taking so long.**

**Merry (late) Christmas to those who celebrate it and Happy Holidays to those who don't!**

**Happy New Year to everyone!**

**I'll do Review Responses for the chapter before this and any others that I haven't done another day because I'm currently sick.**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! It's been a while, huh? Sorry about that. School got unbelievably busy and I just couldn't find the time between homework and extracurricular activities to write. But I did it! I wrote chapter 16!**

* * *

Ultear lets me crash at her place.

Gray is there too. He doesn't want to leave me until I'm with Zancrow, heading to where my brother is.

But that won't happen until morning.

So here I am—after a meal of salmon and rice and vegetables, all of which I barely touched for lack of appetite—lying on a bed, a _real bed_, staring up at the ceiling. It's dark outside the window, and I know I should sleep, but I can't. My head is filled with thoughts about my brother, what he might be like now, how he might've changed, what could have him so troubled that he actually wants me with him to protect me.

But it's not thoughts that I fall asleep to.

It's memories.

* * *

_A boy sits alone by a tree on the outskirts of a small park. He's crying as the other kids from his orphanage play. Silent tears slip down his face, but he refuses to verbalize his pain in public._

_He wants his dad back._

_An older boy looks up from where he is playing in the sand with two younger children. Rising, he wipes his dirty hands on his stained jeans before brushing his bangs out of his face. His dark eyes spot something . . . pink? Yes, he decides, there's something pink over by that tree. Curiosity gets the better of him, and he makes his way over to the tree._

_At the sound of sniffles, he stops._

"_Hello?" he calls._

_A moment passes. Then a muffled:_

"_Go away."_

_The teen moves in front of the tree. What he sees is a young child, his hair a shock of pink, his eyes red-rimmed from crying._

"_Hey, you okay?" he squats on his haunches to be eye-level with the other boy. The pink-haired child avoids his gaze, saying nothing._

_The older male runs a hand through his black hair, and then holds it out to the kid. "I'm Zeref. What's your name?"_

_After a moment of silence, the pink-haired boy's onyx eyes meet the coal-black of Zeref's. His eyes move ever so slightly, seeming to search the other's gaze, until he finally mutters:_

"'_M Natsu."_

_A smile breaks out on Zeref's face as the now named Natsu grasps his hand and gives it an uncertain shake. Natsu releases his hand first, pulling it back to rest atop his legs. Zeref lowers himself fully to the ground so as to be more comfortable; he has a feeling it will be a while before Natsu opens up to him._

"_So, Natsu," the dark-haired boy starts, "why are you over here alone? You should come play with the rest us!"_

_His lips pull into a frown as the younger boy averts his eyes once more._

"_Hey, is everything alright?" Zeref asks softly._

_Natsu's eyes widen ever so slightly at the concern in the other boy's voice. He's not used to anyone caring anymore—not since coming to this place._

_Slowly, he looks at Zeref, and then blinks back tears._

"'_M new here," he says. "I don' have any friends."_

_Zeref smiles softly, warmly. "I'll be your friend, Natsu."_

"_R-really?" he asks, his voice laced with uncertainty and excitement and hope. He leans forward, closer to this mysterious teen that is offering his friendship, and a plethora of emotions swirl inside his gut._

"_Of course!" Zeref exclaims. His small smile breaks into a wide grin and before he knows it Natsu's lips are mirroring his own._

_Not a moment later the younger is smiling and crying and throwing himself at Zeref, knocking them both to the ground in a jumble of flying limbs and happy laughter. Natsu holds onto the other tightly, silently crying into his shirt. He's overwhelmed with emotions; his new friend acts so similarly to his father._

_Zeref doesn't know what to do as Natsu's emotions rapidly change before his eyes. All he can do is hold the boy in his embrace and wait. His hand finds its way to pink hair and he gently rubs through the locks, feeling their softness._

"_Ne, Zeref?" Natsu asks, his voice a quiet murmur._

"_Yeah?"_

"_Can I call you nii-san?"_

_Zeref's movements pause as he registers the question in quiet shock. He's never been referred to as anyone's older brother. But he doesn't see the harm in it._

"_I'd like that."_

_He feels Natsu smile against his neck and hold him just a little tighter. And he smiles, too. He's only just met this strange kid. He doesn't know anything about this odd boy he found crying alone. But that doesn't matter to him—he'll get to know his new friend in time._

_The weird thing?_

_He already feels like they're brothers._

* * *

_Zeref is frozen in shock. He can't believe it. He just—he can't wrap his head around this new idea, this new reality. Honestly, he never thought it would happen to him; he's too old. But even more appalling is that it's not only him; he won't be separated like he always dreaded he would be._

_Natsu is coming with him._

_Natsu, his sweet, precious little brother, stands next to him, grasping his hand as if it's the only thing keeping him from falling to his knees. Zeref gives an encouraging squeeze and watches as the tears slowly but surely build in the ten-year-old's eyes._

"_You leave tomorrow at noon," the orphanage director says. "Pack your bags completely tonight and be ready by eleven-thirty sharp tomorrow." Her cold gray eyes narrow in an unspoken warning, and Zeref resists the urge to growl as he feels Natsu cower slightly behind him._

"_Yes, ma'am," he says instead. She gives a curt nod of dismissal, and the two boys exit her office._

_Once back in their own room, Zeref sits Natsu down on the low-laying bed and squats in front of him. Their five year age difference really adds to their height difference._

"_It's okay now, Natsu. Everything is okay now. We're leaving this place. We'll never have to come back." Zeref holds his brother's hands in his, rubbing soothing circles on the back of Natsu's hands with his thumbs. "Let's have a good last day here, and then we'll always be happy with our new family."_

"_B-but, what if they're mean too?" Natsu asks, fear swimming in his eyes._

"_Then I'll protect you."_

_Natsu holds out his right pinky finger. "Promise?"_

"_Promise," Zeref agrees, joining his right pinky to Natsu's._

* * *

_Natsu is intimidated; Zeref can see that plain as day. And if he is honest, Zeref is intimidated too. Who wouldn't be, though, faced with this towering, broad shouldered man? Jiemma is his name, if Zeref remembers correctly._

_Natsu cowers behind his brother, one eye peeking out. He's scared of his new "father," of his new "home." He doesn't want to leave the orphanage anymore; it feels safer to him. Nevertheless, he goes with the brute—man, he corrects himself—because his nii-san is going with him._

_The boy doesn't hear Zeref's introductions of them, nor does he hear Jiemma's reply. He only sees—sees the height of the man, the coldness of his eyes, the rippling muscles of his, well, everything. Natsu barely registers it when Zeref is leading him to a car, when they arrive at a two-story house with an attic, when they're brought inside and showed their room. The ten-year-old doesn't notice anything until Zeref's arms are wrapped around him, pulling him close, and his brother's comforting words are murmured next to his ear. And that's when the dam breaks._

_Tears pool in the corners of his eyes and he grasps at Zeref like he's a lifeline. "I'm scared, I'm so scared," he whimpers._

"_Shh, its okay, Natsu. Everything's okay." Zeref pulls Natsu into his lap and rubs soothing circles on the younger's back. "Jiemma is big, is all. I'm sure he's a nice man. He adopted us, after all; he can't be bad if he gives orphans a home."_

_Slowly, Natsu nods, his tears halting. "Yeah," he mutters, "you're right."_

"'_Course I am. I'm your big brother," Zeref says playfully, smiling against Natsu's pink hair._

_Natsu laughs and it makes his brother chuckle._

"_You ready to start our new life?" Zeref asks, pulling away just enough to look Natsu in the eyes._

_A smile breaks out on Natsu's face, one that reaches his eyes and makes them close._

"_You bet!"_

* * *

"_You're barely ever at home anymore, nii-san."_

_Zeref looks up from his schoolwork at the sound of his brother's voice, setting down his pencil before turning to face him. He spreads his legs so that the back of his chair is between them and rests his arms over the backrest, his chin atop them._

"_What do you mean?" he asks._

"_Like," Natsu says, "you come home really late and don't spend much time here any longer." His lower lip juts out in a pout. "I miss you."_

_Zeref's gaze relaxes. "I just—I can't stay here all day, Natsu. I need to be outside, doing something, moving around—anything but sitting inside."_

"_But why do you leave me here alone?" Natsu asks, and Zeref swears he sees something flicker in the younger's eyes. What it is, he doesn't know, but he doesn't like it._

"_I—" he starts, swallows, tries again. "I found someone, someone I really like."_

"_So you chose them over me," Natsu says. Zeref hears the teasing tone in the ten-year-old's voice, but he doesn't miss the flash of hurt that crosses his features._

"_No! It's just . . . I don't know. I can't explain it; she makes me feel alive." The black-haired teen can feel his face flushing as he says this._

"_She?" Natsu's eyebrows raise and he leans forward from where he sits on the bed. "So you have a crush." He waggles his eyebrows suggestively, enjoying watching his brother's face turn tomato-red._

"_N-no. . . Maybe," Zeref mutters._

_The younger boy chuckles. "Well why didn't you say so?" he exclaims. "When can I meet her?"_

"_U-um, w-well, since you're lonely and all, why don't I ask her about you two meeting tomorrow? That work for you?"_

"_Nii-san, I'm a ten year old kid that can't do anything fun on his own, of course it works for me."_

_Zeref tilts his chair back to flick his brother's forehead affectionately._

"_Smart ass."_

* * *

_His older brother's crush is not how Natsu was expecting her to be._

_Mavis is her name, and she's incredibly short—a whole head shorter than Zeref, a boy of average height for his age. Her wavy blond hair falls to her ankles in rivulets, and she has large green eyes that shine. Natsu doesn't know what to make of her at first glance, though he can admit he would call her cute if he were older._

_But as he gets to know her he finds that he really likes her and thinks she would make a good match for his brother. Mavis's smile is cheery and reaches her eyes, and she's full of bubbly energy that keeps his brother on his feet._

_And that's not even mentioning her cooking._

_Mavis ended up inviting them both for dinner, and the brothers happily took her up on the offer. So now they sit at her kitchen table, enjoying a nice, home-cooked meal._

"_Man, Mavis, you're a really good cook!" Natsu exclaims, his mouth full of food._

_She giggles. "Thanks!"_

_As Natsu wolfs down his meal, Zeref and Mavis converse in idle chat. But Natsu doesn't mind; he's glad to let his brother talk with his crush and, hopefully, soon-to-be girlfriend. He's only interrupted from his meal when he hears Mavis gasp. His head snaps up to look at her, and he finds her eyes locked onto him—specifically his arm._

_Before he can even look down, Zeref his out of his seat and beside him, grabbing hold of his arm unintentionally roughly. His hand, much larger than Natsu's, pulls the sleeve of Natsu's shirt up his arm and to his elbow, revealing what startled Mavis._

_A gash, red and infected and bleeding once more, cuts open Natsu's arm an inch or two from his wrist to just before the bend in his elbow._

"_Where did you get this? What happened?" Zeref demands as he takes a towel from Mavis and presses it to the wound._

"_It's nothing, nii-san, really," Natsu murmurs._

"_Natsu—"_

"_Zeref, let's bandage him up first, then we can interrogate," Mavis says, gently and reassuringly placing her hand on the eldest male's shoulder. He, in turn, lets out a sigh and nods, then leads Natsu to the bathroom so that he can dress his brother's injury._

_Once the gash is securely disinfected and bandaged in cotton wraps, Zeref sits Natsu down at the table and begins his questioning._

"_What happened?"_

"_I, uh," Natsu stutters, scrambling for an answer, a believable excuse. "I fell . . . from a tree . . . that I was climbing," he says, proud of himself for coming up with such a good lie on the spot. "It happened when you weren't home, but I took care of it," he adds._

_Zeref shoots him a pointed look. "It was infected."_

"_I took care of it to the best of my abilities," the younger corrects._

_His older brother gives him a deadpan look, but nevertheless drops the subject, seeming to accept Natsu's lie._

* * *

_He feels bad—so bad, really bad, very bad. He doesn't like to lie, especially to his brother. But he had no choice. He had to lie._

_To protect my brother, he tells himself, I had to lie._

_He fights back tears as the guilt slowly crushes him. He won't cry, he won't cry, he won't cry. He won't cry, damn it, he won't._

_He had to lie._

_He had to lie to protect himself._

_He had to lie to protect his brother._

_He had to lie to protect his brother from Jiemma._

* * *

**So there's a little bit about Zeref; I know I mentioned him in other chapters, albeit very briefly.**

**Feel free to leave a review to let me know what you think of the chapter and what might happen next and anything you want to say, really; they make my day.**

**AND DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE POLL FOR WHICH CHAPTER YOU GUYS WANT OUT OF LUCY'S POV!**** The poll will probably stay up until the story is complete and I'll add each chapter as an option as I write them. So far "future chapter" is winning, so if it's the winner at the end then I'll make another poll with all the chapters as the options, but that one WILL have a time limit for voting, a week AT MOST, so stay on the lookout for it when I finish writing this story.**

**Whew. . . Well, then.**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**G****uest Review Responses:**

Cosette- **Hope this didn't take too long (who am I kidding? it took forever lol) and sorry about the wait! Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

Guest- **No problem; I love the manga and how Zeref is Natsu's bro so I'm going to add as much canon stuff as I can. Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

Guest- **Yeah, things really do takes turns. Thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Well, this is a month late. . . I am so sorry for that.**

**Thank you so much to everyone that's stuck with me throughout this story! It means a lot to me!**

**And thank you to everyone that's followed, favorited, and/or reviewed!**

**GUYS WE HIT OVER 300 REVIEWS THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

**The song is **"The Kill" **by **Thirty Seconds to Mars**. Special thanks to **Otaku With Cats **for suggesting it!**

* * *

_Breathe._

Pant, pant.

_Breathe._

A short, ragged breath.

_Breathe, Natsu._

My hand clutches my shirt at my chest. Sweat covers my body, though the blankets are thrown off of me.

_Breathe, Natsu, breathe._

Slowly—so agonizingly slowly—my breaths calm. My chest rises and falls less frantically. Air enters my lungs.

_Just breathe._

I can't see a thing for the darkness. I don't know what time it is, but I do know I won't be getting back to sleep.

_You're safe._

I close my eyes, take in a deep breath; let it out. My grip loosens on my shirt, and I swing my legs off the bed. I wipe the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and look at the clock.

2:07 a.m.

I sit in the darkness until it reads two-ten, and then I quietly close the room's door and turn on a lamp. From a hidden pocket in my hood-y—one that I stitched in myself—I pull my small songbook out.

Writing calms me.

I sit on the chair at the only desk in the room and begin thinking. What do I want to write about? I don't know, honestly. I just want to write.

I think about everything I've been through, everything I'm escaping tomorrow. I think about Jiemma and Sabertooth, about how much they've hurt me and how much I hate them; how much I want to be free of them. I think about how I want to _fight back_, how I want my _freedom_.

And then I write.

_What if I wanted to break?  
__Laugh it all off in your face?  
__What would you do?  
__What if I fell to the floor,  
__Couldn't take all this anymore?  
__What would you do, do, do?_

_Come break me down,  
__Bury me, bury me,  
__I am finished with you_

_What if I wanted to fight?  
__Beg for the rest of my life?  
__What would you do?  
__You say you wanted more,  
__What are you waiting for?  
__I'm not running from you_

I pause after the last line.

_I'm not running from you._

Why did I write that? All I've done is run. All I'm doing is running. I have no right to say that I'm not running from them. I run from Jiemma, from Minerva, from Sting and Sabertooth, from Laxus and the Raijinshuu. I run from almost everyone. Hell, I even ran from Lucy.

But what if I stopped running?

I shake my head, figuring I've gone crazy. There's no way I can stop running. But . . .

What if I did stop running? What if I didn't leave tomorrow? What if, instead, I stayed; I stopped fleeing from my fears? What if I did something to stop my torture?

The more I think about it, the more I realize it: I can't run anymore. It's all I've ever done. It's time I stop and face my fears. I'm the only one who can.

And I know Jiemma will just find someone else to abuse. I don't want that to happen, I can't let it happen. No one should go through what I have. And maybe, just maybe, he'll finally get what he deserves.

I shut my songbook with more force than necessary and stand up. Throwing on my hood-y with newfound vigor, I turn off the lamp and leave the room. Years of sneaking out come in handy as I tip-toe around the house and make it outside without waking anyone. Once safely down the road I break into a jog.

It's then that I realize I have no idea where I'm going.

I stop in the middle of the street at, like, three in the morning.

Then I turn around and head back to Ultear's.

* * *

I've lost track of what day it is, but that doesn't matter to me as I bolt from my room at six in the morning and take the steps downstairs by two. I literally run into Gray in the kitchen, but he steadies us before we have the chance to topple over.

"Natsu? What are you doing up so early?" he asks.

I grab an apple from a bowl on the counter. "I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm an early riser." He crosses his arms over his chest.

"Well," I say, and take a bite of the apple, "I have somewhere to be."

His eyebrows furrow slightly. "Zancrow isn't coming until noon though."

I sigh, realizing I'll have to tell him sooner or later. Placing the apple down, I connect our gazes.

"I'm not going with Zancrow."

". . . What?"

"I'm not going with Zancrow," I repeat. "I decided not to go."

Gray takes a step towards me, his arms gesticulating his incredulousness, and I hold my ground, standing just a little straighter. He sputters out incoherent words before saying something understandable.

"But _why_?" His voice has risen in volume and I motion for him to tone it down so as to not wake Ultear. He doesn't. "Why aren't you going to _escape_, Natsu? Are you just going to go back to Jiemma, let him do what he wants with you? Natsu, you _can't_! He'll kill you one day!"

Very quietly, I say, "I can't let him hurt anyone else."

"And how—" he's practically yelling by now "—do you plan on stopping him, huh, Natsu? How?"

"I . . . I don't know."

"Then what do you think you can do? Natsu, if you go back there, he'll kill you for sure! You don't stand a chance against him!" He's almost in my face now. I look down once I see the tears gathering in his eyes.

"I have to do _something_."

I feel his hand come to rest atop my shoulder.

"Please, Natsu, please don't. Call the cops or something. Let the authorities handle it."

And that's it. I break.

I pull away.

"They won't do a damn thing! Jiemma is a very powerful man with a lot of connections. Even if they do believe me, he'll find a way to manipulate _someone_ into getting him out or to getting the charges cleared, or to both. Don't you see, Gray? Nothing will happen if I involve the authorities other than Jiemma knowing I went against him. And then he'll definitely kill me!"

Gray's crying and I'm crying and neither one of us can stop. If he's scared then I'm terrified.

"I'm the only one that can do anything to end it," I continue, the beginnings of a somewhat-plan forming in my mind as I keep talking. "If I can get proof of him abusing me—pictures, video, audio, _something_—then there's no way he can get out. I have to go back, Gray. I have to get evidence."

We have a silent standoff then, and I realize how true my words really are. I wasn't lying or exaggerating—Jiemma is very powerful and very wealthy and he does have a lot of connections with all the right people. Without sufficient evidence of his crimes he'll find a way to get out of prison. He'll somehow get the charges dropped.

And then he'll come for me.

So even if I called the police and then left to go with Zeref, he'd find me. I wouldn't be safe. But I can't just leave without doing anything and let him abuse someone else.

"I have to do this, Gray."

The next thing I know his arms are around me and his tears are wetting the collar of my shirt. I stand there, startled for a moment, before wrapping my arms around him.

"There's no way to stop you, is there?" He chuckles dryly, humorlessly. "Then please, Natsu, please don't do it alone. Let me help you. Let Lucy help you. Let all of us—Gajeel, Erza, Loke, everyone—let us help you. This isn't something you have to do alone."

I hesitate, undecided and nervous to the point of shaking. I've only told Lucy and Gray, and now he wants me to tell the others? It took a hell of a lot of courage and trust to tell just those two—I'm not sure I can tell everyone else.

Our embrace ends and we wipe the tears from our eyes.

"I'll think about it," I say. He nods. "I've got to go."

He runs a hand through his raven locks. "Be careful."

"I will."

I take my previously discarded apple and leave.

* * *

Macao Conbolt looks surprisingly good for a man most likely in his forties that was woken up so early in the morning.

"Natsu!" he exclaims, his face brightening up. "It's good to see you."

"Good to see you too," I say as we shake hands.

He lets me inside and we sit in the living room, him on a reclining chair and me on the sofa. There's a short, comfortable silence before I get down to business.

"I'd like to apologize to you and Romeo," I start. "I was supposed to meet him yesterday morning, but . . . something came up." _Yeah, that something being gangs and Sting kidnapping me._

"Oh, it's fine. We figured something had happened," he says, waving a hand as if to dismiss it. "So I'm guessing you're here now for it?"

"Yeah."

"Give me moment." He rises from his seat and exits the room. I hear the creaking of the steps as he climbs them.

It doesn't take long before I hear the stairs creak again, but this time there's two sets of footsteps. Macao re-enters the room followed by a boy. He's similar to his father in that he has purple-black hair and dark grey eyes. I can't tell his exact age, but he seems to be only a few years younger than me.

"Natsu, this is my son Romeo," Macao says. "Romeo, this is Natsu, Igneel's son."

I wave. "Hey."

"Hi!" Romeo returns, more cheerful than I've ever seen anyone. "So you're Igneel's son! He talked about you a lot with Dad. Don't worry—it was all good things."

I glance at Macao to see that he's slightly uncomfortable. I guess it's because my dad talked about me to a man I didn't know until a few days ago.

"Romeo." He nudges his son, who, I notice now, is holding a box.

"Oh, right. This is for you, Natsu-nii." He holds out the box with a large smile.

I take the box with gentle fingers. "Natsu-nii?" I ask.

Romeo's smile drops a bit. "Can I call you that?"

"Uh . . ." I shrug—there's no harm in it. "Yeah, sure."

His smile returns and he takes a seat next to me on the couch. "Well, what are you waiting for? Open it!"

I nod once; then I look at the box in my lap. It's a simple, white box, like the ones clothes are packaged in. I carefully remove the lid, feeling the two pairs of eyes watching my every move. Once open, I peer inside. My eyes widen slightly, and I pull out the card. The envelope opens easily, though I can tell its aged. I read it silently, not wanting to share something so personal with my new friends just yet.

I blink back tears.

I hear Macao tell Romeo to come with him so as to give me some privacy, and I silently thank him for that. They leave the room, leaving me with the box and the card and the present. The cloth unfolds neatly as I pull it out from the box. It is beautiful: white as freshly fallen snow, with a scale-like pattern. Its length is perfect for me, I notice as I wrap the scarf around my neck, the ends hanging down my back.

_Thank you, Dad. I love it._

"It's a lovely scarf."

I look to the doorway. "Thank you," I say sincerely. Macao smiles softly.

"Anything for your old man."

"I-I need to go," I say. "Thank you, again. I'll be back to visit, if that's okay."

"It is." We shake hands and then I'm almost out the door.

"Aw, are you leaving already?"

I look to Romeo, who's at the top of the stairs. "Yeah, sorry."

"It's fine," he says. "Come back soon, Natsu-nii!"

"I will!" I wave on my way out.

Once outside, I bring out the card and re-read it.

_Dear Natsu,_

_Happy Tenth Birthday son! Man, double-digits already? You're growing up too fast. You'll be a man soon! Anyway, your gift from me is something that's been passed down in our family for generations. I believe it's your time to take it. Treat it with respect and care, but most of all, love it, son. Love it as much as I love you. It's a part of our family as much as you and me._

_I love you so much, Natsu. And I know you're mother does too._

_Happy Birthday,  
__Love,  
__Dad_

* * *

**I can not for the life of me write a good conversation between Natsu and Macao. I don't know what's wrong but it never comes out right. So I hope it wasn't too rushed or awkward, but if it was, I'm sorry. If it was a lil' awkward, though, that's kind of okay cause Natsu is awkward.**

**I have no idea when the next update will be and I make no promises it will be quick.**

**I hope you all liked this chapter!**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**Review Responses (to the guests):**

Cosette - **Thank you so much! The poll was on which chapter reader's want out of Lucy's POV or if they want a re-write of the story completely out of her POV. And I'll do my best!**

Axenshi Tamakoma - **Thank you! I will!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey everyone! Please don't be too mad at me! I made this chapter extra long to make up for the wait! It's a whopping 4,712 words!**

**Thanks to everyone that has followed, favorited, and/or reviewed!**

**If you remember in the first chapter's author note, I mentioned occasional third POV. This chapter is the true beginning of that. It was a little harder to write than I thought it would be, so I hope it all makes sense. If it doesn't please let me know!**

**Here's chapter 18!**

* * *

The woman walks down a long, narrow hallway. Her steps are hurried, her body tense, and she knows he's not going to like the information she has to deliver. He's worked too hard for it to come to this; she fears he'll act recklessly and risk his own safety for that of the other. Her jaw clenched, she reaches the door at the end of the hall and knocks thrice, only entering after being granted permission.

He looks up from the paper on his desk. She approaches and bows slightly, then, without a word, holds out the letter she received. Seeing her expression, his lips form a frown.

His hand brushes hers as he takes the letter. He nods once to her before unfolding the paper and scanning its contents. With each word he reads, his frown only deepens, until it eventually forms a grimace. He's not happy, she can tell.

"Kyouka, what is this?" he asks, all too calmly for her taste. She doesn't fear the man, exactly; it's only that he's a bit unpredictable on this particular subject.

"It's from Zancrow," Kyouka states. "Apparently he will be coming alone today."

The man runs a hand through his shaggy black hair, and absently notices its longer length. Anxiety builds in his stomach; he didn't think his brother would refuse to come. After all, his life isn't exactly what most would call "normal." The man thought for sure his brother would accept all too eagerly to be reunited. But he didn't—he said no, and for a stupid reason too.

_He doesn't want others to get hurt._

Since when has that ever concerned him?

Kyouka stands idly by as she watches the man fall apart before her eyes. Noticing her still there, he motions for her to leave. She obeys, quietly closing the door on her way out.

Alone once more, the man scans the letter again, making sure he's not misreading it. He's not—the letter is clear in his brother's decision. Zancrow will be arriving alone.

He grabs his coat and exits the room.

* * *

I watch as Zancrow leaves. He put up a good fight when I told him I was staying, but in the end he relented.

Do I regret my decision?

Well, I'm certainly terrified of what the consequences of it could be. There's no way of telling if I'll ever get another chance to see my brother again. There's no guarantee Jiemma won't kill me on sight. I'm scared, I'm unsure, I'm nervous, but do I regret my decision?

Not one bit.

Gray's hand on my shoulder is a comfort as I watch my only chance at freedom round a corner, out of my sight. I know I'm not alone anymore, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about. I have friends now, friends who are willing to help me overcome this and put Jiemma where he belongs.

So why do I feel so alone?

It's probably because they'll never understand what I've been through. They'll never empathize with me, but I guess that's a good thing. I'd much rather they not experience what I have.

"Come on, Natsu." I look to my right, at Gray's dull and sorrowful eyes, and I realize that while they can't empathize with me, they can still understand the implications and possible consequences of my decision. And I respect him more now, for not fighting me too hard on the matter, and for letting me try to find closure through the actions I'm going to take.

"Gray," I say, "I need to tell Lucy."

He sighs, knowing I'm right, and his hand, previously on my shoulder, returns to his side. "And the others," he adds. "I'll come with you."

I smile softly. "Thanks."

I grab my worn hood-y from inside the house as he grabs his jacket, and, after saying our good-byes to Ultear, we begin the walk to Lucy's apartment. The walk itself is silent and full of anxiousness, but we persevere through it. Once we're at Lucy's door, I knock. Gray stands behind me as we wait, knowing this is something I need to tell Lucy.

The door opens and Lucy bursts into tears.

* * *

The man is only growing angrier as he sits on the train. He's angry at his brother for saying no; he's angry at _that man_ for doing what he has; but most of all he's angry at himself for not acting sooner. Maybe if he'd offered freedom a few years ago, his brother would have said yes. Maybe then his brother wouldn't feel as if he's responsible for everyone else's safety from that man. But he waited for far too long, and now it's too late; his brother probably felt responsible a long time ago.

His fingers drum restlessly on his leg.

He doesn't know what he'll do once he arrives. He knows for sure he'll have to stay well-hidden and out of sight. He is, after all, a wanted man. The risk he's taking, however, is worth what the outcome could be. No, it's worth what the outcome _will _be. His decision is final:

He won't leave without his brother.

* * *

I tell Lucy of my decisions—of my decision to stay; of my decision to obtain evidence; and of my decision to put Jiemma behind bars, where he belongs.

And she yells. She yells and screams and argues, and I let her. I let her hit me and wail and tell me how stupid I am. I let her vent until she's reduced to quietly crying, her head leaned against my chest as her fists weakly beat on me. I stroke her head, telling her it'll be alright, reassuring her that I'll be fine. But I know she doesn't believe me—I don't even believe me.

Gray stands awkwardly by the door, unsure of what to do, but still wanting to be present. I turn my head to him and nod with a smile, silently thanking him for being here. He nods in return.

Lucy eventually calms down, and then we're hugging.

"This isn't the best decision, Natsu," she murmurs, a last attempt to change my mind.

"I know," I whisper, my nose buried in her hair. She smells nice, like vanilla and strawberries. "But it's what I've decided. I can't let Jiemma hurt anyone else."

She doesn't say anything, only holding me tighter. I close my eyes and let out a long breath, just relishing in the comfort of her arms.

But sooner or later it has to end.

"Lucy," I say, "I—I'm sorry. I need to go."

She looks up at me, her eyes tear-filled, and whispers, "Please, stay."

I kiss her forehead and pull away. "I'm sorry."

I'm nearly out the door when Gray yells after me: "Wait, what about telling the others—!"

But I'm already gone.

* * *

The man exits the train, his steps hurried and focused. He strides to the next platform and boards another train. His impatience is growing; he wants to be there as soon as possible, but the damn trains are too slow and his brother is too far away.

Once seated in his own compartment, he rests his head back on the seat, closing his eyes. A frustrated sigh leaves his parted lips, and he belatedly realizes he didn't pack anything. _Oh well_, he thinks. _It's too late now_.

The whistle blows and the train begins to move.

* * *

I walk down the street, my hands in my pockets, my head low. I know I'm stupid for doing this—no one has to remind me of that. But, like I've been saying, I can't let Jiemma do this to anyone else. It's up to me to stop him.

So it's with dread filling every part of me that I slip inside a convenience store. It's with a guilt-ridden heart that I steal yet again—this time it's a disposable camera and batteries instead of food. It's with an anxious stomach that I find my feet walking along the path I've come to associate with fear and pain. And it's with the utmost panic and terror that I do it.

I step inside the house.

* * *

He's made it, he's finally back in his old town. Stepping off the train, he pulls his coat's hood down lower over his face. After all, he is the wanted Spriggan.

No one pays him any mind as he exits the station and joins the crowd on the sidewalk. But he's okay with that; the less attention on himself, the better.

He pulls out his phone, searching through his contacts for anyone in the area. He has a lot of connections—he won't deny that—but it seems as if he's neglected this particular town. And he knows why.

Sighing, he returns his phone to his pocket, resigning to his fate of having to search on his own. His mind races as he thinks back to the time when he lived here. What places did his brother frequent? What was his home's address? Where would his brother go to school now? It's difficult for him to remember, for he didn't live with his brother for long after being adopted. However, he does remember one place—a place so special to him he could never forget it.

Mavis's house.

* * *

Jiemma's not home. I find that out pretty quickly only because I'm not being beaten on. But I know it's coming.

It takes me longer than it should to set up the camera in my room. I have very little prior experience with them, except for putting in batteries. The camera is placed in a small crack in the wall, so that the lens pokes out. I just hope I'll be in the camera's view when Jiemma comes.

Covering my scarf with my hood-y and placing them on the floor, I let out a long breath, steeling myself for what's to come.

I sit down and wait.

* * *

He didn't expect him to be here, but it's still disappointing when he finds a random family living in Mavis's old home. Shrugging it off, he continues down the sidewalk before turning into another neighborhood, one he knows has a path to the nearest high school in town. His hopes aren't high as he strides through the neighborhood; he didn't think it would be easy, after all.

He rounds a turn and comes to a halt, moving behind the nearest house—which he realizes is actually an apartment building—so as to not be seen. Two people stand just on the other side of the building, seemingly in the middle of an argument. The man doesn't know exactly why he's hiding, only that there's a weird feeling in his gut telling him to do so. He's always trusted his gut.

This time is no exception.

"We can't just let him do this, Gray!" he hears a feminine voice exclaim. "He'll be killed!"

"I don't like it anymore than you do, Lucy," a man's voice responds. "But he won't get any closure until he does something."

The girl's voice is strained as she says, "He won't get closure if he's dead."

He hears the man—Gray, he thinks his name is—let out a frustrated sigh. Then: "How about this—we go to Natsu's house to make sure he doesn't get killed and gets the proof he needs."

In the silence that follows, the man is internally panicking. With someone else saying his brother's name, he's beginning to remember his home's address. It takes him a moment, but he eventually does remember, and a new fire burns within him.

"But we don't know Natsu's address." It's the woman again, and she sounds anxious. He debates whether or not to confront these people. But he doesn't know them, so why should he? For all he knows they could be talking about some other Natsu.

"Damn it," he hears Gray mutter.

Something crunches behind the man, and he whips around to see a blond man walking down the road. He crouches down, knowing that it's the best he can do to hide.

He watches as the man saunters towards the turn, and he freezes when the man stops right beside him. He doesn't dare move, not even to brush his black hair from his eyes for a better view.

Not a second later he hears Gray shout.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," the blond man retorts. His eyes shift to the girl briefly before returning to glare at the other male.

"You're not welcome here after what you did to Natsu," the woman says lowly.

Behind the building, the man's eyes narrow, their gaze on the blond. From his crouched position he has the perfect opportunity to attack.

"Who—the pussy with the pink hair—you know, the one I literally whipped into shape—that one? Are you kidding me? You're going to stand up for that loser?" The blond man scoffs.

The black-haired man sees red.

He charges.

* * *

I wait, and I wait, and then I wait some more. It feels like it's been an hour, but I can't be sure. My thoughts run wild as I wait, and I decide to let them flow somehow. Looking around, I see my small songbook poking out from my hood-y pocket. I crawl on my hands and knees over to it and pull out the songbook. I flip to a new a page, pull out a pencil, and wait for the words to come to me like they always do.

I've always had a knack for songwriting—I don't know why; I don't think my dad was ever good at it. He couldn't sing to save his life. Maybe it was my mom who was good at it.

The pencil tip presses down on the page as I begin writing. The lyrics just kind of flow out of me as I sit there and write.

I'm so engrossed in writing that I almost don't hear the door open.

Almost.

* * *

His hands tighten around the blond man's neck. The man below him struggles, kicking and writhing. But he doesn't notice; this man hurt his brother—he wants revenge.

By now his hood has fallen from his head, exposing his black hair and his face. He doesn't care, though.

Then there are hands, strong as they pull him away from the dying teen under him. He feels his arms get yanked behind his back, but he's only focused on the blond man on the ground before him.

His pupils constricted, he pulls against the man holding him back. He can tell they're equally matched in strength, yet he keeps trying to break free. He wants to kill the man on the ground.

"Woah, calm down," a voice says behind him, and he glances back to see that it's Gray restraining him.

He glares at the raven-haired man, and then turns his icy gaze back to the blond man. The blond stands up while rubbing at his neck.

"You know this guy, Sting?" Gray asks.

"No," the blond says, giving the black-haired man a glare of his own. "I've never seen him before."

The man in question stops his struggling, and Gray hesitantly lets go of him. He then goes to the girl's side.

Sting takes an involuntary step back as the unnamed man moves forward.

"If you ever come near Natsu again," he growls out, low and menacing, "I'll kill you." He stares the blond straight in the eyes, and for a moment his black irises flash blood-red.

He hears the gasp from the girl, and he hears as Gray's breath hitches. He sees as just the tiniest bit of fear flickers in Sting's eyes before they regain their hardness.

"What's it to you what I do to that bitch?" he says.

And then the blond is pinned to the wall by the other man before any of them can comprehend it. His hands are back on the blond teen's neck. The black-haired man moves his face to be less than an inch away from the other's own face, his black eyes, red once more from the lighting, threatening more than words ever could.

"You will not harm my brother."

* * *

Hastily, I shove my songbook under my coat to hide it and then turn on the camera. I double check to make sure it can't be seen from the doorway.

And then I wait.

It's torturous as I sit there, hearing the faint sounds of someone moving about the house. It takes an agonizingly long time before I hear footsteps on the first flight of stairs. But something's off.

I don't notice that I'm holding my breath as the sounds get closer and closer—whoever it is must be climbing the attic stairs now, or really close to it. I begin to fiddle with my shirt, my palms sweaty from anxiety. My eyes stay trained on the door, and I have to fight to not flee.

Then the door is opening, and I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for the first blow that will start the beating.

"Natsu?"

I look up to see Minerva, her eyes slightly widened in surprise. An inaudible sigh escapes my lips as I realize that I'm relatively safe—for now.

"Minerva?"

"What are you doing back?" she asks. Her usual hostility is gone and it throws me off. "We thought you upped and left. Why are you back?"

I rise to my feet. "Um . . ."

"Is it that you have nowhere else to go?" I shake my head slowly, deciding to just go with it. "Well, I wouldn't recommend staying here, but Father is gone for a few more days on business. You can stay for, like, two days if you need to. Though I suggest you don't stay for his return. He's rather angry with you."

I nod dumbly. Then: "Are you . . . helping me?"

She taps her pointer finger against her chin thoughtfully. "I suppose I am," she says finally.

I stare. "Why?"

"Beats me." She smirks, her eyes, for once, playful instead of dangerous. "All I know is that I can't take anymore of being Father's badass little girl. I need breathing room."

"Okay. . ."

Her eyes soften and she places a hand on my shoulder. "Natsu, I know what he puts you through. And I can't stand it. I can't stand how he hurts others the way he does. If I can help you, I will."

"F-for real?" I ask quietly, disbelieving.

"Yes, for real. I promise."

Then I'm crying and we're hugging and it all seems like a dream because this is _Minerva_. This is the Minerva that's ignored me ever since she got here. This is the cold, calculating Minerva that is feared by many. This is the Minerva I thought was just like her father. But I was wrong. I was so, so _wrong_.

"_Thank you_."

* * *

The girl rushes toward the black-haired man quickly, and not even Gray's shout of "Lucy!" stops her. She pries the man from Sting, forcefully turning him to face her. The man shoves her away easily and steps back.

"What do you mean Natsu is your brother?" Lucy demands. "He never mentioned any blood family."

The man curses under his breath, realizing too late his mistake. His fists clench at his sides.

"I mean just that," he says, raising his head to meet all of their gazes. "Natsu Dragneel is my brother."

He can tell just by the looks on their faces that they want answers. He would expect them to. However, he suddenly feels threatened as Gray takes a few steps toward him. He feels threatened as he sees the girl—Lucy—reach for something in her pocket—her phone, he assumes, though who she would call he hasn't a clue.

Now, he's not the type to run. He can definitely hold his own in a fight, if it comes to it. But he doesn't have the time for this—these people, even though they know his brother, don't concern him. He couldn't care less about what answers they may seek from him.

He prepares to run.

Gray's hand is on his shoulder, then, and he damns himself for being so slow. Without hesitation, he grabs Gray's wrist and yanks, throwing the man over his shoulder and to the ground. Gray lands hard on his back and groans.

The man flees.

Lucy looks to Gray, who waves weakly for her to give chase. And so she does.

* * *

"So Jiemma's out of town?" I ask, as—for the first time since I was adopted—I take an apple from the basket on the counter. My teeth sink into its flesh, the juice runs down my throat, and I don't think I've ever experienced anything as great as this little bit of freedom.

Minerva plops down on the couch, crossing one leg over the other and swirling the contents of her glass. "Yeah, he's on some business trip or something."

A smile tugs at my lips as I take a seat across from her, on the armchair. _So I'm safe for a few days, huh?_

"But if you're here when he gets back, you'll have hell to pay," she says. The look on her face tells me she's not joking, even as she takes a sip of wine.

"I know," I say, serious now. "Actually, I'm counting on that."

She looks at me incredulously. "But why?"

"I want to get evidence. I want to put Jiemma where he belongs—in jail."

Her eyes narrow.

* * *

The man runs.

He knows the girl at least is chasing him. But he also knows he can outrun her.

His feet pound against the pavement, every stride feeling stronger than the last, and he doesn't slow as adrenaline pumps through him. It's been a long time since he's felt a thrill like this.

Somewhere behind him, Lucy shouts. She draws attention with her cries of "Stop that man!" and he belatedly realizes his hood is still down. He hastily pulls it over his head, but the wind always blows it back down. Grunting, he opts to keep his head lowered instead.

He rounds a corner and then makes a sharp turn into an alleyway, ducking down behind some garbage bins. A heartbeat later Lucy turns the corner and comes to a stop, panting. She looks around, and he can only guess she knows he didn't keep running.

Crouching lower, he presses his back against the wall of a building.

Lucy stands in view for an excruciatingly long amount of time, and things only get worse for the man when Gray joins her.

Hidden, the man slowly looks behind him and confirms that this is, in fact, a dead end. The only way out is blocked by the two teens.

He can only hope they'll give up.

* * *

Minerva brings the glass to her lips, drawing out the sip she takes as she mulls things over. Eventually, she places the glass down on the side-table next to her. Uncrossing her legs, she leans forward, her elbows resting on her knees and her chin on her folded hands.

"You do realize he is my father, correct?"

I take a bite of the apple, trying to seem calm. "I do."

She raises an eyebrow curiously. "And you realize the complication that brings, correct?"

"I do," I say again. "But do you realize the full extent of what he does to others?"

"I do." She straightens in her seat, placing her clasped hands in her lap.

My eyebrows furrow. "Can you honestly say he doesn't deserve to be in jail?" I ask quietly.

The question hangs heavily in the air. I watch as Minerva contemplates her answer, as various expressions cross her face as she undoubtedly relives happy memories, and then as she thinks about the other side—the bad side—of Jiemma.

Finally, she gives her answer.

"I can't honestly say that, no."

"Then, if I attempt to put him there, will you try to stop me?"

She blinks slowly, brushes some dark hair away from her face, and cautiously says, "I suppose not."

I pause, waiting for her to continue. When she doesn't, I swallow, and open my mouth tentatively.

"Would you be willing to help me?"

* * *

The man swears lowly as the pair begins to search around. Luck is just not on his side, it seems.

Peeking around the garbage bins, he sees that Lucy went to investigate the alley opposite the one he's in, while Gray is advancing toward him. He presses his back to the wall again and places his hands against the bin. Thank goodness it's on wheels.

As soon as Gray is next to it, the man pushes hard, causing the bin to crash into the unsuspecting teen's side. Unfortunately, he is sturdier than the man expected and only stumbles rather than falling. It looks like he'll have to improvise.

Quick as he can, the black-haired man darts out, narrowly avoiding the hand Gray throws out. He stumbles, trips, and falls, rolling on the ground sloppily before he regains his footing.

But he was a beat too slow.

Gray tackles him around his torso, bringing them both down. His head hits the pavement painfully, and, for a moment, he sees spots. There's a pounding in his head as his arms push somewhat weakly against the body on top of him. Lucy runs up as Gray pulls the man to his feet and shoves him back into the dead-end alley.

The man staggers backward, his hand to his head. He feels the wall against his back and leans heavily against it.

Gray moves forward to block any exit the man might have had.

"Gray . . . Isn't this a little too far?" the blonde says uncertainly.

He doesn't look at Lucy as he responds. "It may be, but at this point this is the only way we'll get answers."

The man looks up at Gray through his dark bangs, his eyes scarily red. Gray is unfazed, though.

"What do you mean you're Natsu's brother?" he demands.

The man doesn't answer. Instead, he turns his head away from the pair before him and spits on the ground.

Gray grits his teeth, trying to stay patient. "Answer me. Who are you?"

A sudden wave of nausea hits the man, and he slides down the wall, to a sitting position. He gingerly touches the back of his head and, feeling a liquid substance in his hair, he brings his hand into view.

And he sees blood.

He moans, regretting not having packed anything before he left.

"Are you alright?" he hears Lucy call. Something in him stirs at the sound of her voice—her voice which sounds so much like Mavis's.

"'M fine," he murmurs, ignoring how the edges of his vision are fuzzy. The blood is wiped on his jeans before he clumsily stands up.

"Now, answer us." Gray grabs a fistful of the man's shirt. "Who the hell are you?"

* * *

"_Mavis, I'm coming in!" Zeref says as he opens the front door. An uneasy feeling nags at him, but he brushes it off as hunger and anticipation for Mavis's wonderful cooking. It's sushi tonight, and he brought all the ingredients._

_The door closes behind him, and then he takes off his shoes. "Mavis?" he calls, having received no reply yet._

_His steps become more hurried as he walks further into the house. He enters the living room—which is connected to the kitchen—and grows wary when he notices no lights are on._

"_Mavis?" he calls again. He sets the bag of groceries on the kitchen table and looks around in the darkness. A foul smell reaches his nose and his features twist in disgust._

_He reaches for the light switch and turns it on. His eyes squint at the harsh brightness that suddenly assaults his eyes. For a second, all he does is blink in order to make his eyes adjust. But when they do . . ._

_He screams._

* * *

**For anyone that didn't understand, the italicized text at the end is Zeref's memory. I wanted to add it to slowly give backstory on Zeref and Natsu's past, as well as Mavis.**

**This is by far my favorite chapter so far. It was so much fun to write! Though some parts were a little challenging... I actually deleted about a thousand words because I decided I didn't like where it was going, and then I rewrote it.**

**Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated! Reviews honestly make my day! Please let me know what you think!**

**EOGs and an EOC are coming up soon, so I don't know when the next chapter will be up. Sorry guys.**

**'Til next time!**

**-AlphaDemon**

**(There were no guest reviews; I'll PM those who reviewed with their account.)**


	19. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**Hey everyone! I have important news so please read this!**

**All of my stories are going on a temporary hiatus.**

**School and sports have limited my time a lot. I can now only write on the weekends, so I can't get much done because I don't always have a free weekend.**

**I'm trying to write long chapters to make up for the very long wait, so please be patient with me. I don't know when new chapters will be posted, but I promise I'm not abandoning my stories!**

**Thanks to everyone still with me!**

**-AlphaDemon**


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